Texas Walmart shooter killing 23 offered plea deal to avoid death penalty

HOUSTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Patrick Crusius, the shooter who killed 23 people in 2019 at a Walmart in El Paso, U.S. state of Texas, was offered a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, El Paso District Attorney James Montoya said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The District Attorney office extended an offer to Crusius to plea guilty to capital murder and a sentence of life in prison without parole in exchange for the office not seeking the death penalty.

Montoya said he personally believed Crusius should be executed but the death penalty would delay a trial even further.

Most of the victim's families just want closure and "they just want this case over with," Montoya said.

"I could see this case going to trial until 2028 if we had continued to seek the death penalty," said Montoya.

The plea hearing and sentencing is scheduled for April 21.

Crusius was sentenced to 90 life terms in 2023 in his federal trial after pleading guilty.