The suspect in a California hair salon shooting that left eight people dead pleaded guilty on Friday, NBCNews.com reported.
Scott Dekraai, 44, was going through a custody battle with his ex-wife over their 8-year-old son when he decided to fatally shoot her and seven others at Salon Meritage in 2011.
Dekraai told the judge "it's the right thing to do" as he entered his guilty plea, according to ABC News reporter Eileen Frere.
He is accused of killing his ex-wife, who was a hair dresser at the salon, before killing the salon's owner and six other people.
A total of eight people were shot inside of the Seal Beach salon, leaving only one survivor. Additionally, a man sitting inside his parked car outside was also fatally shot.
Once police arrived, Dekraai was arrested. He reportedly told officers "I know what I did" when he was detained.
His attorney, Scott Sanders, told the court in Orange County on Monday that his client would plead guilty.
Dekraai previously agreed to plead guilty in exchange for multiple life sentences but prosecutors would not drop the death penalty from consideration, the New York Daily News said. A trial was scheduled for June 9.
Salon Meritage opened about one year after the deadly shooting and six employees, including the owner's widow, returned to work.
Paul Caoette, whose father, David, was shot and killed by Dekraai, was satisfied with the idea of a guilty plea.
"I think he should admit his guilt," Caouette said. "Every single thing he has done is cowardly.
"We're a capital punishment state. If anybody deserves the death penalty, it's Dekraai."
