Shooter Killing 23 at Texas Walmart Not To Face Death Penalty
Crosses with names of victims near the place where the shooting took place, El Paso, Texas, U.S. Aug. 5, 2019. Photo: Xinhua
April 22, 2025 Hour: 5:53 am
Instead, Patrick Crusius was sentenced to 23 consecutive life sentences.
Patrick Crusius, the shooter who killed 23 people in a 2019 attack targeting Hispanic migrants at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, will not face the death penalty after he pleaded guilty in court on Monday.
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Instead, he was sentenced to 23 consecutive life sentences. El Paso District Attorney James Montoya’s office last month offered Crusius the plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
At the time, Montoya said he personally believed Crusius should be executed but the death penalty would delay a trial even further, noting that most of the victim’s families just want the case’s closure.
“This state-level resolution follows Crusius’s 2023 federal case, where he pleaded guilty to multiple hate crime & weapons charges stemming from the attack & received 90 consecutive life sentences after federal prosecutors also took the death penalty off the table. He is expected to serve his time in the Texas state prison system,” recalled True Crimes Updates (TCU).
“On August 3, 2019, Crusius drove over 10 hours from the Dallas area & opened fire with an AK-style rifle at the Walmart, specifically targeting Hispanic shoppers. He killed 23 people, ranging from a 15-year-old to grandparents, including both US citizens & Mexican nationals,” it added.
“He later confessed to police, stating the attack was a response to the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” His defense attorney noted Crusius has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder,” TCU reported.
Crusius was sentenced to 90 life terms in 2023 in his federal trial after pleading guilty. The 2019 attack is one of the deadliest shootings in the United States.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: Xinhua – TCU