By Rich McKay
(Reuters) – The gunman who killed 23 people and injured 22 others in a 2019 mass shooting aimed at Latinos at a Texas Walmart pleaded guilty to murder on Monday and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, prosecutors said.
At the hearing on Monday, El Paso’s District Attorney James Montoya read the names of each of the 23 people killed in the attack, as well as the 22 wounded, local media reported.
Montoya told reporters last month that he would no longer seek the death penalty if Patrick Crusius, 26, pleaded guilty.
“I know many wanted us to continue pursuing the death penalty against the shooter,” Montoya said in a statement on Monday, adding that many of the families wanted the case to end as soon as possible.
“After nearly six years, many families just wanted it to be over. And now it is,” he said.
Judge Sam Medrano sentenced Crusius to life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital murder of multiple persons, and life in prison for each of 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the prosecutor said in a statement.
Some of the more than 40 victims and relatives of victims who had asked to give impact statements began addressing the court after the sentencing. The statements to the court will likely continue through Wednesday, the prosecutor said.
Crusius had previously pleaded guilty to a 90-count federal indictment for hate crimes and weapon offenses in the August 3, 2019, attack in the border city of El Paso and was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms.
Crusius admitted he targeted people because of their Hispanic origin and that he intended to kill everyone he shot, federal prosecutors said.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; editing by Donna Bryson and Bill Berkrot)
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