Gunman in racist attack at a Texas Walmart pleads guilty and families
confront him in court
[April 22, 2025]
By MORGAN LEE and JAMIE STENGLE
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Maribel Hernandez and her husband, Leonardo
Campos, were shopping at a Walmart in a Texas border city in 2019 when a
gunman who wanted to stop what he believed was a Hispanic invasion
opened fire, killing them and 21 others.
On Monday, Hernandez's daughter, Yvonne Loya Gonzalez, spoke directly to
the gunman, Patrick Crusius, after he pleaded guilty to capital murder
in the El Paso massacre: “Their absence in my life has left a deep void
in my heart."
The statements by victims' relatives and survivors that began Monday
afternoon could continue through Wednesday. Some, including Gonzalez,
told Crusius he is forgiven.
“I have no more room for hate in my heart,” Gonzalez said.
Crusius, a white 26-year-old community college dropout, showed little
emotion, kept his head up and eyes trained ahead on those who spoke.
Many expressed hope he would reflect on his actions in prison.
Crusius, who wore a striped jumpsuit, shackles and a protective vest
during the hearing, did not address the families when he accepted a plea
deal, which he made after local prosecutors agreed to take the death
penalty off the table. He had already been sentenced to 90 consecutive
life terms on federal hate crime charges.
‘What would be the point of forgiving what was easy to forgive?’
Liliana Munoz of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, said she had been shopping for
snacks to resell across the border when Crusius opened fire, forever
changing her life physically, economically and emotionally.
In her statement, which was read by someone sitting beside her in court,
she said she used to be a “happy, dancing person,” but now she is afraid
every morning when she awakes. She now uses a cane to walk and wears a
leg brace to keep her left foot from dragging.
“It left me sad, bitter,” said the 41-year-old mother.
But she also granted Crusius forgiveness “because what would be the
point of forgiving what was easy to forgive?”
‘El Paso rose, stronger and braver’
Crusius drove more than 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from his home near
Dallas to carry out the shooting on Aug. 3, 2019.
"You came to inflict terror, to take innocent lives and to shatter a
community that had done nothing but stand for kindness, unity and love.
You slaughtered fathers, mothers, sons and daughters,” State District
Judge Sam Medrano said.
“Now as you begin the rest of your life locked away, remember this: your
mission failed,” he continued. “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. El Paso rose, stronger and
braver.”
Medrano sentenced Crusius to life in prison without the possibility of
parole.
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Patrick Crusius stands up to listen to the charges from Judge Sam
Medrano in the 409th district Commissioners Courtroom at the Enrique
Moreno County Courthosue for his sentencing in El Paso, Texas, April
21, 2025. (Omar Ornelas/Pool Photo via AP)
While one of his lawyers, Joe Spencer, told the court, "We offer our
deepest condolences,” Crusius did not explicitly apologize Monday
for his actions.
Crusius also pleaded guilty Monday to 22 counts of aggravated
assault with a deadly weapon, which were enhanced with violence and
prejudice findings, in relation to the 22 people who were injured
but survived the shooting. He was sentenced to 22 additional life
sentences on those counts.
“Patrick will leave prison only in a coffin on God’s time,” Spencer
said.
Racial hatred fueled the attack
In a posting to an online message board just before the massacre,
Crusius said the shooting was “in response to the Hispanic invasion
of Texas.” He said Hispanics would take over the government and
economy.
Crusius appears to have been consumed by the immigration debate,
posting online in support of building a border wall and praising the
hard-line border policies of President Donald Trump, who was in his
first term at the time. After the shooting, Crusius told officers he
had targeted Mexicans.
“He latched onto hateful rhetoric, particularly the dangerous and
false narratives surrounding immigration being repeated in political
discourse,” Spencer said.
The attorney said Crusius was diagnosed with schizoaffective
disorder, which can be marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood
swings. “His thinking became increasingly divorced from reality,” he
said.
“We share this not as an excuse, but as part of the explanation for
the inexplicable,” he said.
The people who were killed at Walmart ranged in age from a
15-year-old high school athlete to elderly grandparents. They
included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, a teacher, tradesmen
including a former iron worker, and several Mexican nationals who
had crossed the U.S. border on routine shopping trips.
Adriana Zandri’s husband, Ivan Manzano, was killed after crossing
into the U.S. from Mexico on a shopping run. She lamented that her
husband lost the chance to teach his son to drive and shave or to
give away his daughter’s hand in marriage.
“When all this happened, my daughter was 5 and my son was 9,” she
said in her statement to the court. “The only thing that I wanted
was for them to not grow up with hatred in their hearts.”
___
Stengle contributed from Dallas.
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