Patrick Crusius, the North Texas man accused of gunning down dozens of people, killing 23 and wounding 22 others at an El Paso Walmart in 2019, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges on Wednesday.
Crusius has changed his plea from not guilty to guilty for the federal charges but not the state ones, according to his legal team and as reported by NBC 5.
The 24-year-old was going to take his case to trial before federal prosecutors declared they would not be seeking the death penalty, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
Crusius, who hails from Allen, told police after the shooting that he was targeting “Mexicans” and posted a manifesto shortly before the shooting, citing a “Hispanic invasion” as the impetus for his deadly rampage, according to The Washington Post.
In the years since the mass shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott implemented several reforms to strengthen law enforcement’s response to instances like what happened in El Paso.
While the federal government may have spared Crusius’ life, it remains unclear whether the admitted mass murderer could face a jury trial on state capital charges. He could conceivably face the death penalty for his deadly crimes if convicted.
The Dallas Express reached out to El Paso County District Attorney Bill Hicks and asked whether he will try Crusius on state capital murder charges and if he plans on seeking the death penalty.
No response was received by press time.
Violent crime has been on the rise in El Paso over the last year or so, despite the best efforts of law enforcement.
A similar increase in violent crime can also be observed in Dallas, where city leaders have been failing to stem aggravated assaults and murders since the new year began.
According to a daily Dallas Police Department briefing, as of Thursday, overall violent crime has increased by more than 10% year-to-date compared to 2022, with murders and aggravated assaults spiking by roughly 16% and 20%, respectively.