EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A brother who traveled more than 1,000 miles to confront his sister’s killer. An uncle of a 4-year-old orphan whose parents died protecting the boy from bullets. A woman whose husband was shot by her side as their 9-year-old granddaughter watched.
Nearly four years after a white gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso in a racist attack that targeted Hispanic shoppers, relatives of the victims pack a courtroom near the U.S. border this week -Mexican to see Patrick Crusius punished for one of the nation’s worst mass shootings.
The sentencing phase, which began Wednesday and continues Thursday, is the first time the families have had the opportunity to address Crusius face-to-face since the August 3, 2019 shooting.
Crusius, 24, is expected to face multiple life sentences in federal prison after pleading guilty to 90 counts of murder, weapons and hate crimes in February. He could also receive the death penalty on separate charges in state court.
In their own words, here’s what the sentencing means for some of the loved ones:
FORGIVENESS AND FAILURE
Family members credit Jordan Anchondo and Andre Anchondo with protecting their 2-month-old child, Paul, in the store during the attack, in which they were both killed.
Tito Anchondo, André’s brother, said he would forgive Crusius but also wants to explain to him why what he did was a failure.
Less than half an hour before the attack, Crusius posted an online rant against a supposed “invasion” of Texas by Hispanics and warned that they would take over the government and the economy.
“He started hurting people because he said Hispanics were taking over. I just want him to know that his efforts were in vain,” Anchondo said. “Yeah, we lost a lot of people. … Those who are still here, we keep moving forward.
Her nephew turned 4 in May. Anchondo said the boy began to come to terms with the loss of his parents and comes to terms with it on special occasions, such as Father’s Day, and upon seeing family portraits.
Paul Jamrowski, Jordan’s father, said it was excruciating Wednesday to sit in the same courtroom as Crusius. He said he forgives Crusius and is grateful that his grandchildren can rely on each other.
However, it is not certain that justice can ever truly be served.
“These lives will never be brought back to life, so how is this justice?” Jamrowski said. “And who can say what justice is? What we do is we try to deal with it like all other families, which is to continue living your life.
“YOU DON’T KO US”
Dean Reckard said he had nothing to say to the man who killed his younger sister, Margie Reckard.
But he still came from Omaha, Nebraska, with his wife to hear what other families have to say about the shooter. The sight of Crusius being driven into the courtroom on Wednesday left Reckard convulsing and wiping tears from his eyes.
Hilda Reckard, Dean’s wife, said they made the trip to “stand up against hate”.
“I just think we come here to take a stand,” she said. “You knocked us out, you didn’t knock us out.”
“EVIL EXISTS OUTSIDE THE BOOKS OF HISTORY”
Among the first to address Crusius were David Johnson’s family, including his widow, adult daughter and a granddaughter who witnessed the attack.
Each spoke of the daily trauma endured from the death of a man who is remembered as a loving grandfather who enjoyed cooking, watching NASCAR races and spending time with his grandchildren playing with Lincoln Logs.
“He was always my rock and my strength, and you took him away from me,” Johnson’s daughter Stephanie Melendez told Crusius. “You stole my daughter’s safety and you changed my life forever. … You showed him that evil exists outside of storybooks.
Kathleen Johnson, David’s wife, who was by his side when he was killed, asked the court to give the maximum sentence available. She said she struggled with depression, anxiety, anger and night terrors.
“He was shot point-blank by a coward, and there was his innocent blood, everywhere,” Johnson said. “I don’t know when I’ll be the same. … The pain you have caused is indescribable. I want you to know that you cannot take away the memory of David Johnson and the joy he brought to this family.
WAITING FOR THE DEATH PENALTY
Albert Hernandez, who lost his sister Maribel Campos and brother-in-law Leonardo Campos in the shooting, is not interested in speaking in court just yet.
He prefers to do so only after Crusius faces a trial that could result in the death penalty, which prosecutors intend to seek in separate state proceedings.
“It’s just a stepping stone to him being brought to justice,” Hernandez said. “I’ll wait until after the trial, at the end.”
Other mass shootings in Texas since the Walmart attack have also weighed on Hernandez, including last year’s massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
“It’s not about revenge,” Hernandez said. “It has to do with punishment and proper punishment.”
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Weber reported from Austin.