Gunman Who Killed 23 In Racist Attack At Texas Walmart Is Offered Plea Deal To Avoid Death Penalty

EL PASO, TX – AUGUST 16: Antonio Basco, who’s wife Margie Reckard was one of 22 persons killed by a gunman at a local Walmart, lays flowers in her honor at a makeshift memorial near the scene on August 16, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. Basco has been to the memorial everyday site since it was erected to clean up the area and put out fresh flowers. 22 people were killed in Walmart during a mass shooting on August 3rd. A 21-year-old white male suspect remains in custody in El Paso which sits along the U.S.-Mexico border. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 in one of the the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history has been offered a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. The decision was announced Tuesday by El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya. It marks an abrupt end to years of efforts by prosecutors to see that 26-year-old Patrick Crusius face execution by lethal injection. Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences at the federal level after pleading guilty in 2023 to hate crime charges. Additionally he was charged in state court with capital murder.