Accused El Paso Walmart shooter officially indicted for murder of 23rd victim, ‘Memo’ Garcia
UPDATE: An El Paso County grand jury on Thursday re-indicted Patrick Crusius for capital murder to include the most recent death of Guillermo 'Memo' Garcia.
In addition, the new indictment added 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, with a hate crime enhancement, for the other shooting victims.
"The hate crime enhancement to the aggravated assault charges increases the aggravated assault punishment from a second degree felony to a first degree felony, which is punishable by confinement for life or a term from 5 to 99 years in prison," said a statement Thursday from the District Attorney's Office.
Below is the complete new indictment filed Thursday, followed by our background reporting on the case.
ORIGINAL REPORT: EL PASO, Texas — The suspect in El Paso's Walmart shooting tragedy is expected to be re-indicted by a grand jury sometime Thursday to reflect additional murder charges stemming from the recent death of a 23rd victim, the District Attorney's Office confirmed to ABC-7.
The new indictment of Patrick Crusius will include April's death of 36-year-old Guillermo "Memo" Garcia, who became the latest fatality of the Aug. 3 mass shooting. Garcia died after being hospitalized in intensive care for months following the shooting, undergoing dozens of operations.
Crusius' initial state indictment covered the capital murders of the original 22 deceased, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza indicated on Wednesday that the revised indictment will also cover charges for those who were injured in the attack.
“We’re re-indicting the defendant to include the additional death and to include all of those injured in the Walmart shooting in order to give the next DA all of their options,” Esparza said, referring to his imminent retirement after 28 years in office. Voters will elect his replacement on July 14.
“We just want to cover all our bases,” he added.
More than 20 people survived the shooting with injuries. Hundreds more have suffered psychological trauma either because they were present or because a loved one was wounded, officials have said on prior occasions.
Crusius, 21, of the Dallas suburb of Allen, remains held without bond in the downtown El Paso jail on the existing state murder charges as well as on a 90-count federal indictment in which he was charged with hate crimes in the shooting for allegedly targeting Hispanics.
Officials have said the federal prosecution against Crusius will parallel the state's capital murder case, for which Esparza has already said he'll seek the death penalty.
Both federal and state prosecutors previously indicated the attack was the result of militant racism. They have said that Crusius carried out the shootings in order to scare Latinos into leaving the U.S., a plot they allege he outlined in a screed published online shortly before the attack.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
