A brother who traveled more than 1,000 miles to confront his sister\u2019s killer. An uncle of an orphaned 4-year-old whose parents died while shielding the boy from the spray of bullets. A wife whose husband was gunned down at her side while their 9-year-old granddaughter looked on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly four years after a white gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso<\/u><\/a> in a racist attack that targeted Hispanic shoppers, relatives of the victims are packing a courtroom near the U.S.-Mexico border this week to see Patrick Crusius punished for one of the nation\u2019s worst mass shootings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sentencing phase, which continued Thursday, is the families\u2019 first opportunity to address Crusius face-to-face since the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crusius, 24, is expected to receive multiple life sentences in federal prison after pleading guilty<\/u><\/a> to 90 murder, weapons and hate crime counts in February. He could still receive the death penalty under separate charges in state court<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is some of what the families told Crusius, and what others want from the sentencing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Family members credit Jordan Anchondo and Andre Anchondo with shielding their 2-month-old child Paul<\/u><\/a> during the attack, in which they were both killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tito Anchondo, Andre\u2019s brother, said he will forgive Crusius but also wants to explain to him how he failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Less than a half-hour before the attack, Crusius posted an online rant about a supposed \u201cinvasion\u201d of Texas<\/u><\/a> by Hispanics and warned they would take over the government and economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe set out to hurt people because he said Hispanics were taking over. I just want him to know his efforts were in vain,\u201d Anchondo said. \u201cYeah, we lost a lot of people. \u2026 The ones that are still here, we\u2019re still pushing forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His nephew turned 4 in May. Anchondo said the boy has begun to understand the loss of his parents and grapples with it on special occasions, such as Father\u2019s Day, and at the sight of family portraits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Jamrowski, Jordan\u2019s father, said it was excruciating to sit in the same courtroom as Crusius on Wednesday. He said he forgives Crusius, and that he\u2019s unsure whether justice can ever really be served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese lives will never be brought back to life, so how is that justice?\u201d Jamrowski said. \u201cAnd who\u2019s to say what justice is? What we do is we try to deal with it as every other family has, which is to continue to go on with your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dean Reckard said he has nothing to say to the man who killed his mother, Margie Reckard<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But he and his wife still traveled all the way from Omaha, Nebraska, to hear what other families say to the gunman. The sight of Crusius being led into the courtroom Wednesday caused Reckard to convulse and left him wiping tears from his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hilda Reckard, Dean\u2019s wife, said they were there to \u201cstand up to hate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just think that us coming here is to take a stand,\u201d she said. \u201cYou knocked us down, you didn\u2019t knock us out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas Hoffmann held up photographs in the courtroom of his father Alexander Hoffmann, a German native and engineer who raised a tight-knit family in neighboring Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, Mexico. Alexander, 66, had crossed the border on a routine shopping trip on the day of the shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoffman said he hoped Crusius loses sleep over his actions and insisted that he confront the images of his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe always taught us that the color of your skin doesn\u2019t matter because we are all children of God,\u201d he said. He called Crusius \u201can evil parasite that is nothing without a weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elise Hoffmann-Taus, Alexander\u2019s daughter, urged the court: \u201cPlease, do not be lenient on Patrick Wood Crusius.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the first to address Crusius was the family of David Johnson, including his widow, her grown daughter and a granddaughter who witnessed the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each spoke of daily trauma from the death of a loving grandfather who liked to play with his grandkids, cook and watch NASCAR racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was always my rock and my strength, and you took him from me,\u201d Stephanie Melendez, Johnson\u2019s daughter, told Crusius. \u201cYou stole my daughter\u2019s safety and you changed my life forever. \u2026 You showed her evil does exist outside of storybooks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Albert Hernandez, who lost his sister Maribel Campos and brother-in-law Leonardo Campos in the shooting, doesn\u2019t want to speak in court for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He prefers to do so only after Crusius faces a trial that could result in the death penalty, which prosecutors intend to seek in state proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is just a stepping stone for him to be brought to justice,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cI\u2019m going to wait until after trial, at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other mass shootings in Texas also weigh on Hernandez, including last year\u2019s massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde<\/u><\/a> that left 19 children and two teachers dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about vengeance,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cIt has to do with punishment, and appropriate punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2018YOU DIDN\u2019T KNOCK US OUT\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
WAITING FOR THE DEATH PENALTY<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n