Walmart mass shooter pleads guilty in El Paso court, gets life sentence
The grinding path to justice for the most lethal mass shooter to ever appear in a U.S. courtroom came to an end Monday when Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty to murdering 23 people and wounding 22 others in an anti-Hispanic assault on an El Paso Walmart in 2019.
“The community you tried to break has become a symbol of resilience, of love overcoming hate, of humanity enduring in the face of evil,” 409th District Judge Sam Medrano said to Crusius after sentencing him to 23 life terms in prison. “This community will always remember those whose lives you stole – their names, their stories, their accomplishments. Their light will never fade, while you, your name and your hate, will be forgotten.”
Crusius was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for capital murder, and life in prison for each of 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The capital murder and aggravated assault sentences will be served concurrently, meaning at the same time.
While the hearing was focused on a horrific hate crime from 5 1⁄2 years ago, both the prosecution and defense spoke of anti-immigrant rhetoric that lit the fuse for Crusius’ explosion and continues to animate political and media conversations.
Read more: https://elpasomatters.org/2025/04/21/patrick-crusius-guilty-life-in-prison-sentence-aug-3-2019-walmart-mass-shooting/