The gunman in the brutal El Paso Walmart shooting incident has been given 90 consecutive life sentences over the death of 23 people in an attack deemed a hate crime.
This week, relatives of the victims of the attack confronted the gunman for two days during an emotional hearing in federal court. They called the assailant a coward and described some of the gaping wounds that were caused by the AK-47-style rifle that the shooter used.
El Paso Shooter Given 90 Consecutive Life Sentences
Many of the victims' relatives hoped that the attacker, Patrick Crusius, would be sentenced to death for his crimes. Additionally, Texas prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty when the gunman is tried later on murder charges in state court.
In a statement, Luis Juarez Jr., who lost his father during the horrific shooting, told Crusius that a life sentence was not enough justice for his actions. The federal setting in what is considered one of the deadliest targeting Latinos in the history of the United States follows a plea agreement from February, as per the New York Times.
The agreement recommended that the defendant be imprisoned for life in exchange for pleading guilty to hate crimes and weapons charges. On Thursday, Bill Hicks, the district attorney in El Paso, said that he owed it to the victims' families to bring state capital murder charges, adding that it was a "tremendous burden."
Hicks added that he expected the shooter to be turned to state custody by October or November for the murder trial. The district attorney said that while there has not been any date set for the trial yet, they were pursuing the death penalty.
After the sentencing on Friday, Dean Reckard, whose mother was among the killed in the shooting, stood up and yelled at Crusius, saying, "We will see you again, coward. No apologies, no nothing."
The 24-year-old suspect's charges were connected to the shooting conducted on Aug. 3, 2019. The victims of the attack included residents from El Paso, Juarez, Mexico, and Germany, according to USA Today.
Horrific Massacre That Killed 23 People
During the sentencing, it was Senior US District Judge David C. Guaderrama who handed the 90 consecutive life terms to Crusius. On Friday, there were more than 50 people in the courtroom while more sat in an overflow room to watch the defendant sentenced on monitors that showed the proceeding.
Before the sentences were handed down, the suspect, who was wearing a blue jailhouse jumpsuit and had his hands and ankles cuffed, did not address the court. He refused the offer while he was allowed to speak on the first day of court.
Thomas Hoffman, who lost his father, Alexander Hoffman, to the incident, confronted Crusius, saying that the defendant killed his father in a cowardly way. He added that his father was not a racist like the shooter was.
Alexander was known to have been an engineer who migrated from Germany to Mexico in the 1980s. He enjoyed listening to music by The Beatles and liked watching James Bond movies, his daughter, Elis, said in a statement through an attorney, said CBS News.
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