The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019
in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history has been offered a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, a Texas prosecutor said.
The announcement by El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya is a significant turn in the criminal case of Patrick Crusius, 26,
who was already sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty in 2023 to federal hate crime charges.
Under the Biden administration, federal prosecutors also took the death penalty off the table but did not explain why.
In addition to the federal case, Crusius was charged in state court with capital murder.
Montoya said he supports the death penalty and believes Crusius deserves it. But he said he met with the families of the victims and there was an overriding desire to conclude the process, though some relatives were willing to wait as long as it took for a death sentence.
“The vast majority of them want this case over and done with as quickly as possible,” he said.
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