The Texas gunman — who reportedly targeted Latinos when he killed 23 people inside a Walmart in a 2019 mass shooting — has been sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms.
Patrick Crusius allegedly remained emotionless as Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama handed down the sentences on Friday, per CNN. He received one life sentence for each of his 90 federal charges.
El Paso Walmart Shooter Remains Emotionless As He Is Sentenced To 90 Life Terms
The 24-year-old’s crime, which occurred inside an El Paso Walmart on Aug. 3, 2019, remains one of the deadliest anti-Latino attacks in modern U.S. history, the network reports.
Residents from El Paso, Juárez, and Germany were killed in the massacre, per the El Paso Times.
Prosecutors also accused Crusius of hate crimes and firearms offenses. He had pleaded guilty to those charges in the massacre earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Crusius’ defense attorney, Joe Spencer, told the court Crusius has taken responsibility for the harm he had caused and that his rampage was due to severe mental illness.
“Patrick will leave prison in a coffin. The only question is, will it be on God’s time or man’s time?” Spencer told the court during a 40-minute allocution just before sentencing.
RELATED: Federal Prosecutors Won’t Seek Death Penalty Against Man Charged With Racist El Paso Walmart Massacre
Newest courtroom sketch of Patrick Crusius (basis for ‘Chudjak’) from his Federal trial today. pic.twitter.com/YW0Au7FOU0
— Otterjak 🦦 (@otterjak) July 6, 2023
However, federal prosecutor Ian Martinez Hanna shot those insinuations down.
“What happened was a cold, calculated scheme targeting immigrants and Hispanics,” Hanna said, according to the El Paso Times. “A shooting spree that spared no one. It was not a crime of passion. It was not an accident. It was a calculated act that he planned.”
Authorities say Crusius uploaded an online diatribe before the shooting, stating, “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
He’s also accused of driving to El Paso from the Dallas suburbs — roughly 700 miles — to carry out the massacre.
In January, federal prosecutors said they would not pursue the death penalty against Crusius, The Shade Room previously reported.
One Of The Victim’s Mother Lashes Out At Gunman After Sentencing: ‘We Will See You Again’
According to the Times, as court officers escorted Crusius out of the courtroom, one of the victim’s mothers threw words at the convicted gunman.
“We will be seeing you again, you coward. We will see you again,” shouted Margie Reckard, mother of Dean Reckard, who was killed in the shooting.
Friday’s sentencing ends an emotional three-day sentencing hearing, which began on Wednesday (Jul. 5).
El Paso D.A: Death Penalty Still On The Table For Walmart Shooter’s State Murder Case
However, while his federal case has ended, the death penalty is still reportedly on the table regarding his Texas capital murder trial.
El Paso Times reports that El Paso County District Attorney Bill Hicks stated Thursday that his office intends to pursue such corporal punishment.
The court has not set a date for the state trial. Hicks believes it will begin sometime in 2025, according to the outlet.
Crusius pleaded not guilty in response to the state charges filed against him. According to the Times, he will eventually be transferred to serve his sentence at the ADX Florence supermax federal prison.
The outlet reports that the prison is home to some of the most wanted criminals in American history. Those inmates include Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols and Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
