DALLAS, July 8 (BNA): A federal judge on Friday handed a white supremacist a life sentence in prison for a 2019 shooting that killed 23 people and wounded 22 others at a Texas Walmart while targeting a Latino, according to court records. and prosecutors.
The ruling by US District Judge David Gadrama in El Paso abided by a plea agreement from February in which shooter Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty and accepted 90 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole to avoid the federal death penalty. He still faces charges in Texas that could carry the death penalty.
According to Reuters, the petition included 45 counts of hate crime violations and 45 counts of using a firearm during a violent crime.
Croesus did not speak in court. His attorney, Joe Spencer, made a statement saying the shooter had a mental illness that drove him to carry out the shooting, according to the Texas Tribune. Prosecutors refuted this and said that Crosius knew what he was doing when he committed the massacre.
Margaret Leachman, the first assistant US attorney for the Western District of Texas who brought the case, said in a written statement that she hoped the families of the victims would find “some peace and quiet” with the sentencing.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas will continue to prosecute perpetrators of violence severely based on prejudice or hate, seeking justice in the names and loved ones of the victims,” Leachman said.
Rial
#Shooter #killed #Texas #Walmart #sentenced #life #terms
Source link