Dylann Roof was reportedly assaulted Thursday morning by a fellow inmate, according to multiple reports. According to an ABC News report, Roof was assaulted while leaving his cell and he is still alive. According to Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon, black inmate, Dwayne Stafford, 25, left his cell and ran down a set of stairs towards Roof, who was near the showers, and proceeded to punch him in the face and body. Roof suffered brusing to his face and back—“relatively minor” injuries, according to the sheriff. Stafford is currently serving time for robbery and assault a police officer; and an arrest warrant for this most recent assault is expected. However, the sheriff said Roof and his attorney have no desire to press charges.
Roof, 22, is suspected of killing nine parishioners of the Emanuel AME Church—one of America’s oldest black churches—in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015. He faces nine charges of murder, three counts of attempted murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, along with federal hate-crime charges—for which he will face the death penalty. His state trial will begin in January 2017.