26 March 2025, El Paso, Texas, Steven Zimmerman – “Why are they not going to try to put him to death,” says Rebecca Hall, an El Paso resident. “He killed so many people. Why did the police not want the death penalty?”
Ms. Hall is speaking about El Paso Walmart mass shooter Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old male from Allen, Texas, accused of killing 22 and injuring 25.
“This person came here, to our home, and hurt all of us,” says Juanita De La Cruz, another El Paso resident. “The cops should get death for him.”
So many emails today about Patrick Crusius and the fact that the Office of the El Paso District Attorney offered him a plea deal that would allow him to avoid the death penalty.
It seems, reading all the messages we’ve received, that many believe that the El Paso Police Department has a say in whether someone does or does not receive the death penalty. That, however, is not the case. The offer and decision came from the District Attorney.
El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya, in the case of Patrick Crusius, 26, who was already sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty in 2023 to federal hate crime charges, decided to not seek the death penalty.
Montoya said he supports the death penalty and believes Crusius deserves it. But he said he met with the families of the victims, and there was an overriding desire for closure and the end of this chapter of their lives, though some relatives were willing to wait as long as it took for a death sentence.
“The vast majority of them want this case over and done with as quickly as possible,” he said.
Montoya, a Democrat, took office in January after defeating a Republican incumbent appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Montoya’s predecessors, and most El Pasoans, supported sending Crusius to death row. Even Texas Governor Greg Abbot commented on this case.
“I’ve heard about it. I think the guy does deserve the death penalty, to be honest,” Abbott said Tuesday about the decision. “Any shooting like that is what capital punishment is for.”
“The direction DA Montoya is taking in this case is disheartening,” says Tonya Williams. “Anyone else can come, kill twenty or thirty people, and say to themselves, ‘If I get caught, I’ll get life and can appeal.’ This case is ripe for execution. Montoya needs to be removed from office.”
Then, some commented on the Federal charges in which Crusius was sentenced to nine consecutive life sentences.
“The feds had him and could have already excuited him,” says Carl Taylor. “No, the bleeding heart, US Attorney, let him walk. He’ll get to live while so many were killed by him. It’s not justice.”
In the Federal Hate Crime charges, the United States Attorney, under the Biden Administration, took the death penalty off the table, and Crusius was sentenced to life in prison. The federal system does not have parole.
Why didn’t Crusius receive the death penalty in the Federal case? No one knows, and the US Attorney never provided an answer.
What El Paso County District Attorney Montoya has said is that if this were to remain a death penalty case, it would not see trial until at least 2028.
What plea deal was offered by the DA in exchange for a guilty plea? Life in prison.
“Life, and life, and not justice,” says Gloria Moreno of El Paso, Texas. “This is us, taxpayers, survivors of his shooting, paying for him to live at our expense for decades to come. This is not justice but an injustice and a slap on our faces.”
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