Top Texas criminal lawyer appointed by court to defend El Paso mass shooting suspect

A well-known San Antonio criminal defense attorney will be representing 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, the man suspected of shooting dozens of people in El Paso.

Mark Stevens on Monday confirmed to our ABC affiliate KSAT in San Antonio that he was appointed by the court to Crusius’ case. Crusius is charged with capital murder after the mass shooting on Saturday at an El Paso Walmart. El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza previously said he will seek the death penalty in the case.

Stevens has defended multiple murder and capital murder suspects in Texas, and he is ranked as one of the top 50 lawyers in west and central Texas by Key Professional Media, Inc.

ABC-7 caught up with Stevens when he flew into El Paso Internal Airport from San Antonio on Monday evening, but he declined to comment on the case.

According to his website, Stevens graduated from law school in 1979 and was board certified in criminal law in 1984.

His new client Crusius is currently being held without bond at the El Paso County jail.

In his application for a public defender, Crusius said he has been unemployed for five months and has no income, assets or expenses.

He also said that he had been living with his grandparents, according to the document filed with the El Paso County district clerk’s office which indicates that Crusius qualifies for a court-appointed attorney.

Police shut down streets around Crusius’ grandparents’ home in the Dallas suburb of Allen in the hours after the mass shooting more than 600 miles away. The FBI said agents searched their home and two other homes where Crusius had stayed.

Larry and Cynthia Brown said in a statement read by a family friend that their grandson moved out six weeks ago.

(The Associated Press contributed background to this report.)