By Morgan Lee and Jamie Stengle
El Paso, Texas (AP) – The shooter who killed 23 people in a racist attack in a Walmart in El Paso – one of the deadliest mass shootings in the history of the United States – pleaded guilty to a capital murder on Monday before a state district court.
Patrick Crusius was automatically sentenced to life prison without parole in the massacre near the American-Mexican border. The change of plea occurs after the local prosecutors took the death penalty of the table.
Crusius acknowledged having targeted the Hispanics on August 3, 2019, when he opened fire in a Walmart in the border city of Texas which was crowded with buyers of the United States and Mexico weekends.
The District Prosecutor of the County of El Paso, James Montoya, refused to continue the death penalty, saying that the decision had been motivated by the majority of relatives of the victims who wish that the case is finished.
Joe Spencer, defense lawyer in state and federal affairs, said the advocacy brought “judicial purpose” to the case and avoids prolonged procedure.
“He brought violence and terror to a place of peace,” said Spencer. “He broke lives and has forever changed the El Paso landscape. … We offer our deepest condolences.”
“Patrick will only leave prison in a dead end of God,” said Spencer.
Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life mandates at the federal level after pleading guilty of hate and weapons crimes.
Crusius was without expression before the start of the hearing at the justice palace of the County of El Paso, who was under increased security. Crusius wore a striped combination, chains and a protective vest.
About 100 people from the families of the victims were seated in the gallery behind a few rows reserved for the media, prosecutors and the Cruusus defense team. They will have time to give impact declarations on the victims from Monday afternoon. Dozens made emotional statements during a similar hearing before the Federal Court in 2023 which lasted three days.
Crusius, a dropout from the white community college, was 21 years old when the police said that he led more than 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) to El Paso from his home near Dallas.
Shortly after publishing an online racist racist diatriber that warned of a Hispanic “invasion”, he opened fire with an AK style rifle inside and outside the store. Crusius was arrested shortly after.
Spencer said Crusius was diagnosed with a schizo-deffective disorder that can be marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood swings, and has suffered from a debilitating mental illness for most of his life.
“You talk about an individual with a broken brain,” he said on Thursday.
People who were killed in Walmart varied as the age of a 15-year-old high school athlete with elderly grandparents. They included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, a teacher, traders including a former iron worker and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the American border during routine shopping trips.
Stengle contributed from Dallas.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
