El Paso Walmart gunman sentenced to 90 life terms in federal prison

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - The man who shot and killed 23 people in a Walmart store in the US state of Texas in 2019 was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences on Friday by a federal judge, US media reported.

Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty in February to the murders and hate crimes for the mass shooting at the El Paso Walmart nearly four years ago. It was one of the deadliest attacks targeting Latinos in modern US history which also injured 22 other people.

Prosecutors said Crusius carried out the shooting rampage with the sole intention of killing Mexican people and immigrants. They say he professed his xenophobic and white supremacist beliefs in an online post right before the massacre.

“You killed my father in such a cowardly way,” said Thomas Hoffman, whose father, Alexander, was murdered by Crusius. “He was not a racist like you.”

“You’re an ignorant coward and you deserve to suffer in jail and then burn in hell,” Hoffman continued during his statement at the trial. “You are an evil parasite that is nothing without a weapon.”

Crusius still faces a potential death penalty in a separate state case, in which he has pleaded not guilty to capital murder. That trial is expected to take place in 2024 or 2025 according to the El Paso district attorney's office.