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Defendant in El Paso Walmart mass shooting set to plead guilty in federal case Feb. 8

Defendant in El Paso Walmart mass shooting set to plead guilty in federal case Feb. 8
2 years 10 months 3 weeks ago Monday, January 23 2023 Jan 23, 2023 January 23, 2023 5:40 PM January 23, 2023 in News
Source: elpasotimes.com
FILE - El Paso Walmart shooting suspect Patrick Crusius pleads not guilty during his arraignment on Oct. 10, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. Federal prosecutors disclosed Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023, that they will not seek the death penalty for Crusius, who is accused of fatally shooting nearly two dozen people in a racist attack at a West Texas Walmart in 2019. (Briana Sanchez / El Paso Times via AP, Pool, File)

The man accused of killing 23 people during a 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart is scheduled to plead guilty Feb. 8 to federal charges, court records show.

A rearraignment hearing was set by U.S. District Court Judge David C. Guaderrama for 10 a.m. Feb. 8 at the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in Downtown El Paso, where Patrick Crusius is expected to plead guilty to several federal charges filed against him in connection with the Aug. 3, 2019, El Paso Walmart mass shooting, according to federal court records. The hearing was set Monday.

The hearing comes after Crusius’ lawyers filed a motion Saturday requesting the hearing, stating that Crusius was planning to plead guilty.

Crusius faces 90 federal charges, including 45 hate crimes, in connection with the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting at an East El Paso Walmart.

The shooting left 23 people dead and dozens more injured.

Crusius’ lawyers state in the motion that their client was intending to plead guilty came after federal prospectors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Jan. 17 that they would not be seeking the death penalty for Crusius.

A gag order issued in state district court prevents lawyers, witnesses, family members or anyone else connected to the case from discussing it.

Crusius faces the death penalty in state court.

He is charged in state court with one count of capital murder of multiple persons and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

No trial date has been set in state court.

A federal trial was scheduled for 2024; jury selection would have started in January of that year.

Crusius, of Allen, Texas, is accused of driving Aug. 3, 2019, from the Dallas suburb to El Paso with a variant of an AK-47 assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to the federal indictment. Prior to the shooting, he allegedly uploaded a racist tirade online, claiming his attack was “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

Crusius then allegedly gunned down people in the parking lot and inside the East El Paso Walmart located near Cielo Vista Mall, leaving 23 people dead and dozens more injured.

He then surrendered to law enforcement shortly after the shooting.

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