Atlanta-area shooting suspect could face the death penalty.

• Robert Long, 21, was charged Wednesday with eight counts of murder by Georgia prosecutors.

• Eight people, including six Asians, were killed Tuesday in three Atlanta massage parlors.

• Long said he did it to eliminate sexual temptation, but prosecutors are considering hate crime charges.

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The suspect in Tuesday night’s shooting in the Atlanta area could meet the threshold for the death penalty under Georgia law.

Prosecutors charged Robert Aaron Long, 21, with eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault on Wednesday after shootings took place at three massage parlors in the city.

At a news conference Wednesday, law enforcement officials said Long admitted to carrying out the attacks. However, he has not yet pleaded guilty.

He is due in court on Thursday, where he can plead guilty, but that is not required.

If Long is ultimately convicted, the charges put him at risk of the death penalty in Georgia. Prosecutors are expected to choose whether to pursue this case and, so far, have not discussed the matter publicly.

Under Title 17 of the 2010 Georgia Code, most murders are not punishable by death.

But if any of the 11 criteria are met, then it can be considered. They are listed here by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which also reported that Long faced the death penalty.

Certain criteria – for example whether the offender was on the run or whether the victim was a police officer – do not appear to apply. Others are broader, such as whether the killings occurred during another crime or during the use of a particularly dangerous weapon.

In Georgia, the death penalty is carried out by lethal injection. As of January, 39 men and one woman were on death row, according to data from the state Department of Corrections.

Of the eight people killed Tuesday night, six were Asian women, meaning prosecutors must decide whether to charge Long with a hate crime, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and 11Alive reported.

Long told law enforcement that race did not play a role in the attack, instead saying he was addicted to sex and wanted to eliminate temptation.

“During his interview, he gave no indication that this was racially motivated,” Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds said Wednesday.

“We asked him that question specifically and the answer was no.”

Tuesday’s attack is the latest in a series that indicates attacks against Asian Americans in the United States are on the rise.

As of Thursday morning, four of the Atlanta-area victims had been identified: Xiaojie Tan, 49, Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, and Daoyou Feng, 44.

David Barkley, Southeast senior attorney for the Anti-Defamation League, told the AJC, “We urge the local prosecutor to bring hate crime charges in addition to other charges.”

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