Walmart shooting suspect Patrick Crusius pleads guilty to federal charges

EL PASO, TX (CBSDFW.COM/AP) – According to court records filed days after the federal government said it would not seek the death penalty, a man accused of killing nearly two dozen people in a racist attack on a Walmart store in El Paso plans to plead guilty to federal charges. accusations. case.

Patrick Crusius remains charged in state court with capital murder and could still face the death penalty in Texas if found guilty of a 2019 mass shooting that killed 23 people.

In court on Saturday, defense attorneys asked for a hearing so that Crusius could plead guilty to federal charges. He was charged with federal hate crimes and gun violations.

U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, in his order on Monday, scheduled a hearing for February 8 in El Paso.

Crusius turned himself in to police after the attack, stating “I shot” and that, according to the arrest warrant, he shot at the Mexicans. Prosecutors said that shortly before the shooting, he posted a screed online saying it was “in response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

The shooting took place on August 3, 2019, on a busy weekend at a Walmart store that is usually popular with shoppers from Mexico and the United States. In addition to the dead, more than two dozen were injured. Many of them were Mexican citizens.

El Paso is a predominantly Hispanic city that, together with Ciudad Juarez, forms an international metropolitan area of ​​more than 2 million people. On the US side, the suburbs extend into New Mexico.

Although federal and state cases have developed in parallel, it is not clear when Crusius could stand trial on state charges. According to court records, the state’s hearing was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

The district attorney who handled the state’s case, Yvonne Rosales, resigned in November amid allegations of incompetence related to hundreds of cases in El Paso and slowing down the case against Crusius. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed a new district attorney last month to “restore confidence” in the local criminal justice system.