Parkland Massacre Gunman Get life in prison, not death
The gunman responsible for Parkland Florida The school shooting massacre will be sentenced to life in prison – and exempt from the death penalty – despite killing 17 people in the 2018 mass shooting.
Nikolas Cruz, 24, who killed 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and three staff members, looked pale inside the courtroom Wednesday as the verdict was read.
After just a day of deliberation, which lasted for six hours, jurors returned a recommendation of life in prison without parole, while a formal hearing for sentencing will take place next month, according to the report. CNN.
“Justice was not served today,” said Linda Beigel Schulman, Marjory Stoneman’s geography teacher, Scott Beigel.
“If this isn’t the most perfect death penalty case, then why do we have the death penalty?” Linda Beigel Schulman said. “There is no doubt about the fact that the sentence should have been a death sentence.”
Parkland Shooter was exempted from the death penalty thanks to Florida Law, where juries had to unanimously recommend execution
Cruz escaped the death penalty because Florida law requires jurors to unanimously recommend execution, leaving life in prison the only option on the table.
Initially, Reuters erroneously reported that the jury had recommended the death penalty for Cruz, but the agency issued a correction shortly thereafter.
The sentencing motion came after a three-month trial where prosecutors argued that Cruz’s crimes were premeditated as well as heinous and heinous, necessary to establish a death sentence. under state law.
While Cruz’s defense team acknowledged the gravity of his crimes, they asked the jury to consider mitigating factors such as a lifelong struggle with a mental health disorder, allegedly stemming from his biological mother’s drug abuse during pregnancy.
Prosecutors painted Cruz as cold-hearted, brutal killer, defended like a “spoiled” child at sentencing hearing
The courtroom was an emotional scene, with families and friends of the victims in tears as the judge read out all 17 names in the order they were shot by Cruz for the proposed life sentence.
During the sentencing hearing, which ended on Tuesday, prosecutors painted Cruz as a cold, calculating killer. Meanwhile, Cruz’s defense attorney insists he is just a “broken, brain-damaged child” and a victim of his mother’s drinking and drug use.
JUDGMENT: A jury has recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole – instead of the death penalty – for all charges against Parkland massacre gunman Nikolas Cruz. pic.twitter.com/bqYLWpWknK
– Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 13, 2022
During Wednesday’s sentencing request, the jury asked to reread two statements as well as the AR-15 that Cruz used in the shooting.
The jury asked to see the AR-15 Cruz used in the massacre, which he legally purchased in 2017.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office objected to providing the jury with the gun for “security reasons,” but ultimately decided that the gun would be displayed with a pen, according to CNN.
In 2017, Cruz legally purchased a light semi-automatic rifle, which was previously shown to jurors during witness testimony in July.
The jury was also shown photographs of Broward Sheriff’s Sgt. Gloria Crespo disposed of the bodies of five students as well as the teacher killed by Cruz on the third floor of the school, all of whom were shot at short range.
The Parkland, Florida massacre remains the deadliest mass shooting ever brought to trial in U.S. history, with nine other gunmen killing at least 17 people during or shortly after the shooting. suicide gun or police gun.