Sentencing date set for El Paso Walmart mass shooter in June
A June sentencing date is set for the racist who fatally shot 23 people and injured dozens more at an El Paso Walmart in 2019.
Patrick Crusius' sentencing is set to begin at 9 a.m. June 30 at the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in Downtown El Paso with U.S. District Court Judge David C. Guaderrama presiding.
Crusius pleaded guilty during a Feb. 8 plea hearing to 90 federal charges in connection with the El Paso Walmart mass shooting on Aug. 3, 2019.
The admitted white supremacist is facing life in federal prison after the U.S. Attorney's Office elected not to seek the death penalty.
He traveled to El Paso to attack shoppers on a Saturday morning grocery store visit. Once in El Paso, he allegedly uploaded a racist tirade online stating, "This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas," he wrote. "I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion."
He carried out the attack with a semi-automatic assault-type rifle before surrendering to authorities near the busy grocery store.
Patrick Crusius hearing schedule for El Paso Walmart shooting
An order filed Wednesday evening outlines the schedule of the sentencing hearing.
Here is the schedule:
Beginning June 30: "Discuss the (probation) Presentence Report and hear and resolve objections to the Report; Defense counsel's and Defendant Patrick Wood Crusius's allocution."
On July 5: Victim impact statements "beginning at 10:00 a.m. and proceeding until finished. The Court expects this portion of the hearing to take multiple days."
The day following the conclusion of victim impact statements: "The Government's allocution and the Court's pronouncement of Defendant's sentence."
More: Admitted white supremacist pleads guilty to El Paso Walmart shooting charges
During the February plea hearing, federal prosecutors asked Judge Guaderrama to sentence the mass shooter to 90 consecutive life sentences.
Crusius pleaded guilty to:
23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death
23 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence
22 counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill
22 counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence
The sentencing will be held on the eighth floor in the largest Downtown El Paso federal courthouse courtroom.
More than 40 victims or family members of those who died in the shooting sat in that same courtroom when the gunman pleaded guilty. Dozens more watched the proceedings on television screens in an overflow room.
The plea hearing was the last time the gunman appeared in a courtroom. In that appearance, he wore a blue jail jumpsuit, a face covering and was handcuffed in front, tied to a metal chain around his waist. He wore glasses and his brown hair was longer and unkempt.
While the federal case against the mass shooter is reaching its end, state district court charges remain pending.
In state court, the gunman faces one count of capital murder of multiple persons and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The El Paso County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty.
A trial date has not been set in state court.
Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso Walmart shooter receives sentencing date in June
