Charleston church shooter pleads guilty to state charges

Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof pleaded guilty to state murder charges today, leaving him to await execution in a federal prison and sparing his victims and their families the burden of a second trial.

The self-avowed white supremacist entered the plea during an afternoon hearing. He stood at the defense table with his attorneys, clad in a gray and white striped jail jumpsuit and handcuffed to a chain at his waist.

Roof was unapologetic at his federal trial as he listened to days of testimony from survivors.

They described in harrowing detail the hail of bullets that began when parishioners closed their eyes to pray during a June 2015 Bible study at the historically black Emanuel AME Church.

After Wednesday's hearing, Roof, 23, will return to a local jail, while technically in the custody of the US Marshals Service, until he's transferred to a Bureau of Prisons facility "in short order", a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press. The official spoke on a condition of anonymity.