Pittsburgh synagogue shooter is formally sentenced to death after victims' families call him 'vile' and 'worthless'

Andrea Wedner, whose 97-year-old mother was killed, called the mass shooter "worthless" and a "pathetic human being."

Carol Black cried out the name of her brother, Richard Gottfried, and said she feels guilt that somehow she survived, hidden in a dark closet, but her brother did not.

And Mark Simon, whose parents were killed, said he remains haunted by his mother's blood-stained wedding pearls - but can't bear to part with them.

"Your sick, vile, despicable actions have totally erased you from humanity and society forever," Simon said.

Wedner, Black and Simon were three of the nearly two dozen people who spoke in federal court Thursday about the impact of the 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, the deadliest ever attack on Jews in the United States.

The gunman, Robert Bowers, 50, did not look up from a piece of paper for any of their statements. Afterward, Judge Robert Colville formally sentenced him to death on 22 capital counts, 37 life sentences and 20 years each on four additional counts.

The hearing came a day after a federal jury unanimously agreed to sentence Bowers to death. It's the first federal death sentence under the Biden administration, which has imposed a moratorium on executions.