El Paso Walmart Shooter Could Avoid Death Penalty

Gun violence and mass shootings remain serious issues facing the Latinx community. According to the Giffords Law Center, more than 14 Latinxs die from gun violence per day and 5,300 Latinxs per year, with gun violence against the community double what it was in 2014. That becomes clear in cases like the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, which left 19 students and two teachers dead, the majority of whom were Latinx. Back in 2019, Patrick Crusius killed 23 people and injured 22 more at an El Paso Walmart near the U.S.-Mexico border. It became one of the deadliest mass shootings and one of the most horrific attacks against the Latinx community in the country’s history at the time, as Crusius is white and the majority of the victims were Mexican or Mexican American. Later, the shooter confessed that he intended to target Mexicans in the community, marking it as a racist, xenophobic, and hateful attack. He was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms and former El Paso County District Attorney Bill Hicks announced that he would be seeking the death penalty.

However, the new El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya recently announced that his office had reversed course and the shooter was being offered a plea deal. Under this offer, the shooter would plead guilty to capital murder and spend life in prison with no possibility of parole rather than be executed by lethal injection. The decision has proven to be controversial, with many families frustrated at what seems like a lack of accountability for his crimes, according to NPR.

“This is about allowing the families of the 23 victims who lost their lives on that horrific day — and the 22 wounded — to finally have resolution in our court system,” Montoya said in a statement. “Now, no one in this community will ever have to hear the perpetrator’s name ever again. No more hearings. No more appeals. He will die in prison.”

“I could see a worst-case scenario where this would not go to trial until 2028 if we continued to seek the death penalty,” he added.

With the death penalty Crusius is expected to plead guilty April 21 to state charges of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He will be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, the Texas Tribune reported. Crusius’ defense attorney Joe Spencer is claiming mental illness as a factor for his violent behavior:

“Certainly, the mental health issues he has is not an excuse for his conduct, but it is part of his life that he grew up with and part of his family, who also suffers from mental illness. That is a contributing factor to the horrific carnage that Patrick caused,” Spencer said in a statementin response to the death penalty being off the table, El Paso Matters reported.

On August 3, 2019, Crusius, then 21, drove nine hours and 700 miles from his grandparents’ house in Allen, Texas to El Paso. Though he initially had no target in mind, he eventually settled on the local Walmart, which had over 3,000 people in the building at the time including shoppers and staff. Before the shooting, he uploaded a PDF of his racist manifesto, in which he condemned the “invasion” of immigrants, discussed his fears about Latinxs “taking over” the government and economy, reasoned that the shooting would stop further migrants from entering the country, and explained that this would help the environment. His online activity demonstrated that he was in support of the border wall and other policies and messages from then-President Donald Trump.

“This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. They are the instigators, not me. I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by the invasion,” it allegedly stated.

Using an AK-style rifle, he killed 23 people ranging in age from 15 to 90. The shooter also injured 22 others and was arrested shortly after the shooting by officers who stopped him at an intersection. The shooter pled guilty to the murders and hate crimes in July 2023, receiving 90 consecutive life sentences and agreeing to pay $5 million to the families of the victims.

However, prosecutors sought the death penalty as well and in fact, Montoya recently stated that he believed Crusius deserved it. However, pursuing it would likely add many more years in order for it to go through the court system and many families, according to Montoya, wanted to finish the arduous legal process, even if it meant giving up the possibility of the death penalty.

“Our loved ones will always be loved and remembered as decent people who were just living their lives and doing their best,” said Dean Reckhard to NPR, the son of Margie Reckard, who was killed in the shooting. “We need to do the same. It’s what they would have wanted.”

The plea hearing and sentencing for Crusius is set for April 21, 2025. Families will be able to read victim impact statements prior to sentencing.