Latest news with #JamesMontoya
Epoch Times
21-04-2025
- Epoch Times
Texas Walmart Shooter Avoids Death Penalty by Pleading Guilty to Capital Murder in State Court
The gunman who killed 23 people and injured 22 others in a mass shooting at a Texas Walmart in 2019 has accepted a plea deal, avoiding the death penalty. Patrick Crusius, 26, pleaded guilty to capital murder and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on April 21 before Judge Sam Medrano of the 409th District. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the attack, considered one of the deadliest in American history, in which he admitted that he was targeting Hispanics. The bearded and bespectacled gunman, who terrified a store full of shoppers with a WASR-10 rifle on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019, appeared in the crowded courtroom wearing a black protective vest over his orange-and-white prison-issued jumpsuit. He stared straight ahead as the El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya read out the names of the nearly two dozen people killed in the border city massacre. The judge told Crusius that his 'name and hate will be forgotten,' while the names of his victims would live on. 'As you begin the rest of your life locked away, remember this: your mission failed,' Medrano said. Related Stories 3/25/2025 8/20/2019 'You did not divide this city; you strengthened it. You did not silence its voice; you made it louder. You did not instill fear; you inspired unity. ... The community you tried to break has become a symbol of resilience, of love, of overcoming hate, of humanity, and of enduring in the face of evil. 'This community will always remember those whose lives you stole, their names, their stories, and their accomplishments, while you, your name, and your hate will be forgotten.' Joe Spencer, a defense attorney in state and federal cases, said the plea agreement brings 'judicial finality' to the case and skirts protracted legal proceedings. 'The legal finality cannot erase the pain, nor does it fully answer the agonizing question, why,' Spencer said in court on April 21. 'How could something so senseless happen here in our community? 'Over the past five years, extensive evaluations by numerous health care professionals have concluded that Patrick Crusius suffers from a severe, debilitating mental disease, schizoaffective disorder. This illness involves profound breaks with reality, including hallucinations and deeply entrenched delusional thinking.' Crusius was 21 at the time police alleged he drove nine hours from his home in Dallas to El Paso to carry out the massacre. El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya has said prosecutors did not impose the death penalty because most of the surviving victims and families of victims wanted the case to be over. 'The defendant was the author of a manifesto entitled 'The Inconvenient Truth' that was posted on [online message board] 8chan shortly before the shootings,' Montoya said on April 21. 'The manifesto was authentic and authored by the defendant, and the offense was committed because the defendant possesses a bias or prejudice [against] a group of individuals identified by their race, color, national origin, or ancestry.' After signing off on legal documents, a shackled Crusius was escorted out of court by law enforcement and his attorneys. He was to be confined in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Today and for the remainder of the week, the shooting survivors and family members are expected to give impact statements similar to the testimony recorded at a 3-day federal hearing in 2023. At the July 7, 2023, federal hearing, Crusius pleaded guilty to hate crimes and weapons charges. At the time, U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama sentenced Crusius to 90 consecutive life sentences and recommended that he be placed in a Colorado maximum security prison where he should receive treatment and counseling. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Yahoo
Walmart shooter back in court Monday, expected to plead guilty on state charges
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The Walmart shooter will be back in court on Monday, April 21 and is expected to plead guilty to state charges in the Aug. 3, 2019 massacre. This comes after El Paso District Attorney James Montoya announced on March 25 that his office would not pursue the death penalty in the state's long-delayed case against Patrick Crusius. Crusius murdered 23 people in a racially motivated attack at the Cielo Vista Walmart store on that August day nearly six years ago now. DA: Victims' families want Walmart case 'done with as soon as possible' The Walmart shooter also wounded more than 20 others in the attack. The Walmart shooter is expected to plead guilty in a plea agreement reached last month and then be sentenced to life in prison without parole. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Mountain Time at the El Paso County Courthouse. The plea hearing and sentencing are expected to last about 90 minutes on Monday Walmart shooter is the most lethal mass shooter to face justice in a U.S. courtroom. There have been deadlier mass shootings than the Walmart massacre but all those gunmen either took their own lives or were killed by police. After the guilty plea and expected sentencing, people who were victims of the attack will be able to address the court about how the crime impacted their lives and the lives of their families. Victim impact statements are expected to last until Wednesday. More than 40 people have signed up to talk about the crime during this portion of the court proceedings, KTSM was told. The Walmart shooter pleaded guilty in 2023 to federal charges and was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms without possibility of parole. Montoya said he made the decision to not pursue the death penalty on the state level after talking to families of the victims, shortly after taking office in January. He announced his decision last month. He said families 'want this case over and done with as soon as possible.' The state's case has long been delayed. Montoya is the fourth DA to oversee the state prosecution of the case. The case has been riddled with delays caused by the COVID pandemic, the forced resignation of previous DA Yvonne Rosales and defense allegations of prosecutorial misconduct against the office of her replacement, Bill Hicks. 'This defendant will die in the penitentiary. He will not get out. He will die in prison. And fundamentally, that's what this comes down to: Are we going to drag this out? For a year, two years, for decades, so we can stick a needle into his arm? He will die in prison. There's no doubt about that,' Montoya said when he announced his decision not to pursue the death penalty. We will provide coverage of the court proceedings on air and online at Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
Violent crime victims remembered during El Paso District Attorney's Office ceremony
The names of 1,957 El Pasoans who have died in violent crimes over the past few decades were read during the annual El Paso District Attorney's Office's Crime Victims Reading of the Names ceremony. The ceremony was held at 8 a.m. Sunday, April 6, at the Crime Victims Memorial at Yucca Park near Yarbrough Drive in El Paso's Lower Valley. The event is part of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which is observed April 6 through April 12. The 34th Judicial District is the top law enforcement official in El Paso, Hudspeth and Culberson counties. "The message I want for you all to take away is that you are not alone," El Paso District Attorney James Montoya said during the ceremony. "You are not alone in your loss. This community is here for you. There are others who are here for you. We are here for you." More than four dozen El Paso victims of violent crimes last year were added to this year's list. Each name was read with a bell being struck after each name. The ceremony lasted nearly three hours. The names included fallen El Paso County Sheriff's Office Deputy Peter Herrera, the victims of alleged 'Desert Killer' David Wood, and the El Paso Walmart mass shooting victims. The annual event was attended by victims' family members and friends, El Paso community members, district attorney's office staff and local law enforcement officials. 'The assistant district attorneys who are participating in the Reading of the Names got to know the families of those who suffered a loss of a loved one,' Montoya said in a statement. 'They worked to prosecute those responsible for these violent crimes that robbed them of a loved one. It's meaningful to everyone who participates that these members of our community — who were taken from us far too soon — are remembered.' Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@ or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso DA James Montoya hosts memorial for victims of violent crimes
New York Times
26-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Texas Prosecutors Will No Longer Pursue Death Penalty in El Paso Shooting
Texas prosecutors will no longer seek the death penalty against the gunman who killed 23 people in a mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart six years ago, the local district attorney announced on Tuesday. The gunman, a self-described white nationalist, had previously been sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms after pleading guilty to federal hate crimes in the attack, one of the deadliest on Latinos in U.S. history. At the time, federal prosecutors also said they would not seek the death penalty. On Tuesday, the El Paso district attorney said his office had changed course after speaking with the families of the victims. 'It was very clear as we met with the families, one by one, that there is a strong and overwhelming consensus that just wanted this case over with, that wanted finality in the court process,' said the district attorney, James Montoya, a Democrat. In exchange, the shooter, Patrick Crusius, is expected to plead guilty to capital murder and serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Mr. Montoya said. Mr. Crusius will also waive his right to any potential appeals as part of the plea agreement. Mr. Montoya is the fourth prosecutor to have been assigned to the case. He promised during his campaign last year to seek the death penalty, and said on Tuesday that he still believed the shooter deserved it. But the families' wishes combined with Mr. Montoya's lack of 'great confidence' that the state's trial would have remained in El Paso — because of the unlikelihood of finding impartial jurors, thus prolonging the case — led him to instead pursue a life sentence, he said. The shooting occurred on Aug. 3, 2019. Prosecutors say the gunman traveled to El Paso from Allen, a city near Dallas. He attacked the Walmart store in a popular commercial district near the Cielo Vista Mall, a retail complex with dozens of restaurants and stores that is usually busy on weekends. During the shooting, the gunman stalked shoppers and employees in the aisles and behind the cash registers with an AK-47-style rifle. The victims included a couple who had been married for 70 years, a 15-year-old boy who had dreamed of joining the Border Patrol and a young mother who was shielding her infant son. Twenty-two people were also injured. After his arrest, the gunman told the police that he had wanted to kill Latinos because 'they were immigrating to the United States,' and that El Paso was his target because it was a Latino-majority city with strong cultural ties to the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez, just across the border. 'Patrick acted with his broken brain centered in delusions,' the gunman's lawyer, Joe Spencer, said during his federal trial. 'We hope that we have provided some answers to what feels uncomprehensible.' At a separate news conference on Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, told reporters that he believed the gunman deserved the death penalty. 'A heinous shooting like that is what capital punishment is for,' he said. The gunman is scheduled to be back in court for his state sentencing on April 21.
