U.S.prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against the Texas Walmart shooter

By Sharon Bernstein

(Reuters) – A federal court document filed Tuesday revealed that federal prosecutors will not seek death penalty for the man who is accused of killing 23 and injuring dozens in a hate attack on Mexicans at a Walmart in El Paso in Texas in 2019.

Prosecutors allege Patrick Wood Crusius drove 11 hour from Allen, Texas, to El Paso, Mexico on Aug. 3, 2019, before firing at Walmart customers with an AK47 rifle. Officers confronted him outside and he surrendered.

Crusius is also facing state charges in Texas. Crusius will face trial in 2024 at U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas. There he will face 23 counts of committing a hatred crime resulting death and 23 counts of using a gun to commit murder.

Crusius was found not guilty of the 90 federal hate crimes charges. The death penalty was not pursued against him, so proceedings were delayed. His lawyers argued in 2020 that Crusius was 21 years old and had severe, long-lasting neurological and mental disabilities. He should not be executed if convicted.

A Texas judge delayed a state trial because federal prosecutors decided whether they would seek capital punishment.

First Assistant U.S. attorney Margaret Leachman stated Tuesday in a notice to the court and the defendant that the government will not seek death in this case.

According to court filings, Crusius was reportedly in a psychotic state when he was taken into prison by police officers minutes after the shooting.

A manifesto that prosecutors say was posted online by Crusius on 8chan, a now-defunct message board often used by extremists, said the Walmart attack was “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

(Reporting and Editing by Sharon Bernstein; Editing done by Leslie Adler