For a second day in a row, survivors and relatives of victims of the August 2019 Walmart massacre in El Paso, Texas, will come face-to-face with the man being sentenced for fatally shooting 23 people and wounding 22 others.
Nearly four years after carrying out one of the deadliest attacks targeting Latinos in modern US history, Patrick Crusius, 24, is hearing firsthand about the anguish endured by the wounded survivors and relatives of the dead, one by one, as prosecutors seek to have him serve dozens of consecutive life sentences.
Crusius -- who pleaded guilty in February to 90 federal charges, including hate crimes -- sat in a federal courtroom Wednesday. His hands and feet were shackled when he arrived in court. He displayed no emotion, occasionally nodding his head or fidgeting.
"You can roll your eyes if you want to. It doesn't bother me," Raymond Attaguile, whose brother-in-law David Johnson was killed while back-to-school shopping with his granddaughter, told Crusius, interrupting his remarks.
"You can roll your eyes; you can smile; you can smirk," Johnson's granddaughter, whose mother says her life was saved by Johnson during the shooting, told him.
Crusius shook his head both times, seemingly denying the actions.
Attacker intent on killing immigrants and Mexicans
For about two hours Wednesday, Crusius was forced to hear their pain.
Victims' sons, widows, brothers and daughters called him a "coward," a "monster," a "killer," an "enemy," a "parasite" and a "bastard."
On Thursday, he will be confronted again during a sentencing hearing in the US courthouse in El Paso that could last several days.
Authorities said Crusius carried out the attack with the sole intent of killing immigrants and Mexicans in the West Texas border city.
"I hope God one day finds the heart to forgive you for what you've done," Raul Loya, who is related to one of the victims, said before crying.
Earlier Wednesday, Crusius answered, "No, sir," when the judge asked him whether he would like to make a statement.
The victim impact statements, in which survivors and loved ones of those killed testify about the shooting's lasting fallout, are expected to last two days.
"I still remember everything so clearly, even though I have tried to erase it from my memory," a teenage soccer player identified in court as G.A. recounted.
"You killed my father in such a cowardly way," Thomas Hoffman said. "He was not a racist like you."
Hoffman lost his father, Alexander Hoffman, who was an engineer who migrated to Mexico from Germany in the 1980s and enjoyed listening to The Beatles and watching James Bond movies, his daughter Elis said in a statement through an attorney. She described her father as a "gentle giant with a big heart."
"You're an ignorant coward and you deserve to suffer in jail and then burn in hell," Thomas Hoffman said. "You are an evil parasite that is nothing without a weapon."
Hoffman held a photo of his father and looked directly at Crusius.
"See it. See it," he said.
It was unclear whether Crusius looked at the photo, but he could be seen swallowing while Hoffman said, "You can see it."
'I want you to remember my voice'
Thirteen victims made impact statements Wednesday in person or through a representative, including a minor who was wearing an "El Paso Strong" T-shirt and had trouble speaking between sobs as she described the horror she survived inside the Walmart.
"He started shooting," she said between sobs. "I prayed to God."
"I used to be a happy, normal teenager until a coward chose to use violence against the innocent." She ended her statement by saying, "I'm no longer as happy as I used to be."
A statement read by attorneys on behalf of Alfredo Hernandez, the brother of victim Maribel Hernandez, also referenced Crusius smirking in court, pointing to a pattern of him saying more with body language than with words.
Johnson's granddaughter, referred to in court as K.M. because she is a minor, was accompanied during her statement by a therapy dog brought into the courtroom to comfort the victims.
Johnson's daughter, Stephanie Melendez, also addressed Crusius.
"I want you to remember my voice. I speak for all the daughters who lost their fathers," Melendez said. "In your act of hatred, you stole a good man from this world ... he will be remembered but you will not."
The charges include 23 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, 23 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence, 22 counts of hate crimes involving the attempt to kill, and 22 counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The shooter initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea in February after federal prosecutors indicated they would not seek the death penalty. Instead, he will likely be sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences, according to his plea agreement with the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.
Sentencing would occur the morning after victim impact statements are completed, or the following Monday if they conclude on a Friday, per court filings.
The gunman still faces charges from state prosecutors who have said they plan to seek the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty to a state capital murder charge, but a trial has yet to be scheduled.
