ATLANTA — Motions were denied in a hearing for convicted spa shooter Robert Aaron Long.
Long’s attorneys wanted to omit statements he made during his arrest while he faces the death penalty, if convicted.
He killed eight people back in 2021, engaging in what Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis previously described as a spree.
He’s now on trial for the shootings at spas across the metro Atlanta area.
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The motions hearing on Monday finished, with Long pleading not guilty to murder.
“I’m going to deny the defendant’s motions and admit the statements the defendant made,” Fulton County Chief Judge Ural Glanville said.
Attorneys for Long wanted to omit some statements he made just hours after his shooting rampage, which spanned from Cherokee County to Fulton County.
“Information that I believe this court needs to have for a complete analysis of the issues regarding the amicability of Mr. Long’s statements,” Glanville said.
The spa mass shooting left six Asian women dead among the eight victims. At trial in Cherokee County, Long pled guilty, but did not do so in Fulton County.
In court, defense attorneys called witnesses and argued that Long’s comments to investigators were involuntary, but prosecutors pushed back.
There will be another hearing coming in late April.
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