The Associated Press reported that the White Texas gunman who opened fire and killed 23 people in a racist massacre at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 was given 90 consecutive life sentences in federal prison.
Following the horrific shooting on the U.S.-Mexico border that targeted Hispanic consumers, Patrick Crusius, 24, was given several life sentences.
In a different case that has not yet gone to trial in a Texas state court, Crusius might still be sentenced to death.
Following the removal of the death penalty from consideration by federal prosecutors, he entered a guilty plea in February to nearly 50 federal hate crime counts.
After listening to victim impact testimonies from the victims’ families for two days, U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama sentenced Crusius.
“You left children without their parents, you left spouses without their spouses, and we still need them,” Bertha Benavides, the wife of victim Arturo, told Crusius.
On August 3, 2019, Crusius started shooting with an AK-style semiautomatic rifle after ranting online about a “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
More than twenty persons were hurt in the incident, some of whom were Mexican citizens.
The victims ranged in age from grandparents in their 80s to a 15-year-old.
According to a database from The Associated Press, USA Today, and Northeastern University, the attack was the deadliest of a dozen mass shootings that have occurred in the United States and has been connected to hate crimes since 2006.
