By Daniel Trotta
       March 25 (Reuters) - Prosecutors said on Tuesday they
have withdrawn the death penalty for the man who shot dead 23
people and wounded 22 others in an attack aimed at Latinos at a
Texas Walmart in 2019, enabling him to plead guilty in exchange
for a life sentence.
    El Paso District Attorney James Montoya told a press
conference he extended the plea deal after meeting with
relatives of the victims, most of whom wanted to end the case as
soon as possible, he said.
    Instead of facing death by lethal injection, shooter Patrick
Crusius can agree to a life sentence without the possibility of
parole in a hearing scheduled for April 21.
    Texas has executed 593 prisoners since 1982, the most of any
state, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
    Crusius, now 26, had previously pleaded guilty to a 90-count
federal indictment for hate crimes and weapon offenses in
relation to the assault on August 3, 2019, at a Walmart ( WMT ) in the
border city of El Paso. He was sentenced to 90 consecutive life
terms.
    Crusius admitted he targeted people because of their
Hispanic origin and that he intended to kill everyone he shot,
federal prosecutors said. A defense lawyer told the federal
court he was driven to the shooting by mental illness.
    Montoya, the fourth district attorney to oversee the state
prosecution, said he believed in the death penalty, but the case
faced continual delays before he took office in January.
    "This is about allowing the families of the 23 victims who
lost their lives on that horrific day - and the 22 wounded - to
finally have resolution in our court system," Montoya said in a
statement.
    Montoya said he met with the families before deciding how to
proceed and a "strong consensus" favored a rapid conclusion,
even if that meant dropping the death penalty.

 (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Daniel Wallis)