He's become the first person to face execution for federal hate crime convictions.

The jury convicted him last month of all 33 federal charges he faced, including hate crimes and murder.

Nearly two dozen friends and relatives of the victims gave evidence during the sentencing phase of the trial, however none of them said whether Roof should receive the death penalty or not.

When he was given an opportunity to plead for his life, Roof said: "I have the right to ask you to give me a life sentence, but I'm not sure what good it would do anyway.

"I still feel like I had to do it."

Roof requested new lawyers and a retrial after his sentence was announced. The judge said he was "strongly disinclined" and recommended Roof rethink the request over the next 24 hours.

 

Roof told FBI agents when they arrested him a day after the June 17 2015 killings that he wanted the shootings to bring back segregation or perhaps start a race war.

The attacker specifically picked out Emanuel AME Church, the South's oldest black church, to carry out the cold, calculated slaughter, Assistant US Attorney Jay Richardson said.

The 12 people Roof targeted opened the door for a stranger with a smile, he said. Three people survived the attack.

"They welcomed a 13th person that night ... with a kind word, a Bible, a handout and a chair," Mr Richardson said during his closing argument.

"He had come with a hateful heart and a Glock .45."

The gunman sat with the Bible study group for about 45 minutes.

During the final prayer, when everyone's eyes were closed, he started firing.

 

 

Malcolm Graham, whose sister Cynthia Hurd was killed, said he thought the jury made the right decision.

"There is no room in America's smallest jail cell for hatred, racism and discrimination," he said from his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"The journey for me and my family today has come to an end."

Dylann Roof has been sentenced to death for killing nine black church members during Bible study in a racially motivated attack in South Carolina.