The Texas gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting "Mexicans" at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019, was sentenced to 23 consecutive life sentences, after he pleaded guilty in state court Monday morning.
Patrick Crusius accepted a plea deal offered by the El Paso District Attorney's office in return for not pursuing the death penalty.
District Attorney James Montoya said he offered the deal after a request from the majority of the families of those killed, in trying to bring this case to a close.
The 2019 shooting is considered one of the worst attacks on Hispanics in the U.S. Hours before the attack, Crusius published an online screed saying he was responding to the "Hispanic invasion of Texas."
In 2023 a federal judge sentenced him to 90 consecutive life sentences, after he pleaded guilty of hate crimes and firearms violation.
After reading the sentence, District Court Judge Sam Medrano had a few words for Crusius.
"Your name and your hate will be forgotten," he said.
Judge Medrano told the gunman how he did not divide the city, which is overwhelmingly Hispanic, but strengthened it.
"The community you tried to break has become a symbol of resilience, of love overcoming hate, of humanity enduring in the face of evil," he said. "This community will always remember those whose lives you stole, their names, their stories, their acomplishments, their lives will never fade."
Crusius attorney Joe Spencer said his client suffers from mental disorder that makes it difficult for him to be able to separate reality from delusion.
He said it was not an excuse but his client became isolated and began listening more to online chatter about immigration and erroneous claims about "an invasion" of the United States.
Crusius did not offer any apology on Monday.
Instead, Spencer said: "We offer our deepest condolences."
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