Man pleads guilty in synagogue shooting

SAN DIEGO — A 22-year-old former nursing student pleaded guilty to the murder of one person and the attempted murders of 53 others in a 2019 shooting at a Southern California synagogue, avoiding the possibility of facing the death penalty.

John Earnest entered a similar plea on state charges in July and agreed to serve the rest of his life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30.

In the federal case, sentencing is set for Dec. 28. Defense attorneys and prosecutors are recommending life in prison plus 30 years, according to the plea.

Federal prosecutors had said previously that they would not seek the death penalty, and Friday’s agreement finalized that decision.

In July, the Justice Department halted federal executions after an unprecedented run of capital punishment during the Trump administration, though the order didn’t prohibit prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued the moratorium as officials review the government’s policies and execution protocols.

Earnest opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle in April 2019, on the last day of Passover, at Chabad of Poway near San Diego. The attack killed 60-year-old Lori Gilbert-Kaye and wounded three others, including an 8-year-old girl and the rabbi, who lost a finger.

Earnest also admitted that he set fire to an Escondido mosque where seven people were sleeping, though no one was hurt, and that he carried out the attacks because he wanted to kill Muslims and Jews.