Nikolas Cruz was the Parkland school shooter. He will spend life imprisonment for the shooting incident at Marjory stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in Florida in 2018. 17 people died, 14 were students and three teachers.
On Thursday, the jury reached a unanimous decision that Cruz (24 years old) should be executed. Reuters originally reported that the jury recommended execution, but soon corrected their report.
Florida law stipulates that death sentences must be approved unanimously on at least one count. Life in prison is the only alternative.
Cruz was hunched forward and staring down at the tables while the verdict was read. He smiled a rare smile as it emerged that the killer had been sentenced to life in prison and would not be facing the death penalty.
As they responded to the verdict, the families and friends of victims became visibly upset. Some looked angry, shook their heads or closed their eyes. Some parents wept as they left court.
After just one day of deliberations, jurors returned the verdict that they recommended life imprisonment. This followed a three month-long trial which included photos and graphic videos as well as heartbreaking testimony from the victims’ families and a tour through the bloody school building.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer cannot overturn the recommendation of the jury and will officially issue the life sentence November 1. Family members, students and teachers Cruz who were hurt will have the chance to speak at that moment.
Nikolas Cruz smiles on Thursday as he hears the verdict in his case for Parkland’s 17 Murders at Marjory Stoneman Doug High School.
Cruz, who was a student at Stoneman Douglas High School and three of his staff members murdered 14 people and injured 17 more on February 14, 2018, pleaded guilty. Cruz admitted that he had chosen Valentine’s Day so Stoneman Douglas students would never be able to celebrate it again.
This massacre was the most fatal mass shooting ever to be tried in America. At least 17 other victims were killed in their attack by police or suicide gunfire.
During the three month sentencing trial, the prosecution had claimed Cruz’s murder was premeditated and heinous. These are the criteria Florida law uses to determine whether Cruz will be sentenced to death.
Cruz’s defense had admitted the seriousness of his crime, but asked jurors for mitigations such as mental health issues resulting from his biological mom’s abuse during pregnancy.
Families reacted to Thursday’s verdict in courtroom
Corey Hixon (son of Chris Hixon’s athletic director) walked out from court in hand and with a female partner as the verdicts were read.
PARKLAND VICTIMS TOP ROW L-R Jaime Guttenberg and Nicholas Dworet. Meadow Pollack, Cara Loughran. Second Row L–R: Alyssa Alhadeff. Luke Hoyer. Joaquin Oliver. Gina Montalto. Third Row L–R: Alaina Petty. Carmen Schentrup. Peter Wang. Alex Schachter. Fourth Row L–R: Helena Ramsey. Scott Beigel. Aaron Feis. Chris Hixon
Corey Hixon was the son of Chris Hixon, an athletic director, who was murdered in the mass slaying. He walked out of court to hear the verdicts.
Lori Alhadeff (14-year-old victim) and Ilan Alhadeff (14-year-old victim) were both devastated.
Ilan Alhadeff said the eight-times-shot death of his daughter Alyssa had set a precedent for future mass murders.
Ilan Alhadeff said the eight-times-shot death of his daughter Alyssa is a precedent for future mass murders.
He declared, “I am disgusted at our legal system. I’m disgusted about those jurors.” It is disgusting.
Others listened intently to the sentence and crammed their heads.
A woman was seen appearing to mouth ‘unbelievable’ as she was comforted by her husband as the verdicts were read out.
Gina Montalto and her parents started to hold hands with each other before the reading began. They then began crying throughout the entire reading. Luke Hoyer’s mom was also in tears.
Alaina Pinto’s mother and father, Jaime Guttenberg, were both holding Jaime’s head in their hands.
The verdict was received by the families of Parkland School shooting victims on Thursday.
Jurors were only allowed to read back one witness during their seven-hour deliberation. It was the cross-examination by the prosecution of Cruz’s defense psychologist.
The two men later asked for the AR-15 Cruz used to shoot them.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office objected to the supply of the gun to the jury for security reasons. However, just as day two began on Thursday it was determined that the gun would not be displayed without the firing pen.
Cruz bought the gun legally in 2017 and it was already shown to him during testimony in July.
Broward sheriff’s Sergeant. Gloria Crespo previously testified that Cruz, then 19, had five gun magazines remaining in the vest, containing 160 total bullets. He fired more than 100 rounds as he stalked the 3-story building for 7 minutes.
Jurors were also shown photographs Crespo took from the corpses of five students, a teacher and one other person who had died at the third floor. All of them sustained multiple injuries after being shot at close quarters.
Cruz’s Massacre is the worst mass shooting in American history. A total of 17 victims died in Cruz’s attacks, including those who were killed by suicide bombers or cop gunfire.
This week, closing arguments were concluded by both the prosecution and defense. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty. Cruz was portrayed as a brutal and calculated killer. Cruz’s defense lawyer pleaded for mercy while Cruz demanded life imprisonment.
Cruz admits that he thought about shooting a school while in middle-school, five years after he committed the Valentine’s Day massacre.
He claimed that Valentine’s Day was the one he selected to ensure it would not be celebrated at his school ever again.
Nikolas Cruz (who will soon know if it’s a death sentence or if the prisoner will get a life sentence) is captured on school security camera in 2018, when he went on his rampage. Jurors are now able to inspect the AR-15 used by Cruz in the shootings, as they begin the second day.
In July, during testimony by Mike Satz, the Assistant State Attorney, showed the court and jury the AR-15 that Mike Satz purchased legal in 2017. It was the AR-15 that was used for the horrific massacre.
Cruz is seen in the school’s surveillance video from 2018. Jurors retraced Cruz’s path on as he methodically moved from floor to floor, firing down hallways and into classrooms
A year ago, he bought an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. He began planning seven months before the attack.
Attorneys for each side concluded three months’ worth of testimony on Tuesday and made one final push for a death sentence, or life imprisonment.
Both the prosecution and defense acknowledged that his attack on 17 victims in 2018 was horrific, however they disagreed over whether it was an act worthy of execution or one that a person with a history of mental illness should be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mike Satz, the lead prosecution for Cruz’s case, kept it simple for his seven-man and five-woman jury. For the jury of seven men and five women, Mike Satz concentrated on Cruz’s eight-month-old planning. Then he focused on the seven minutes Cruz spent in a classroom, shooting 140 rounds with his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle before escaping.
He showed security video footage from the incident and also displayed grisly crime scene photos and autopsy photographs. Student witnesses and teachers also testified to the horror of watching other people die. The jury was taken to the fence-off structure, where bloody bullets were still present.
Melisa McNeill, Cruz’s leading attorney and team did not question the horrific acts of violence he committed. Instead they focused their attention on their belief that Cruz was a victim to fetal alcohol syndrome because his mother drank heavily during her pregnancy. Their experts said his bizarre, troubling and sometimes violent behavior starting at age 2 was misdiagnosed as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, meaning he never got the proper treatment. They said that this left his mother, a widow, overwhelmed.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer who cannot overrule the jury’s recommendation, will formally issue the life sentence on November 1
As the second day begins, Melisa McNeill, Assistant Public Defender and other defense personnel enter the courtroom.
The defense slashed its case, calling 25 out of the 80 witnesses that they had promised would testify. They never brought up Cruz´s high school years or called his younger half-brother, Zachary, whom they accused of bullying.
Satz and his colleagues argued in rebuttal that Cruz was not afflicted by fetal alcohol harm but rather has antisocial personality disorder. In lay terms, this means that he is a sociopath. They claimed Cruz caused brain damage through testing, and that he could control his behavior. However, he chose to not. He was a cashier in a discount store, and he didn’t have any discipline issues.
Cruz was also recorded by the prosecution in numerous conversations with mental health specialists. He discussed his plans and motivations.
After the shooting, people are evacuated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school
A victim is treated by medical staff outside Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland
Cruz, who was 19 at the time of the attack, had just been expelled form Marjory stoneman Douglas. Cruz admitted he was guilty of the crime and asked for forgiveness.
The nation was stunned by the shooting and rekindled debate about gun control. Cruz, despite his mental problems, had legal purchased the firearm he used legally.
1.55 million people marched nationwide on March 24th, 2018, inspired by parents and survivors of school shootings. This is the highest public participation ever for gun control legislation in America.
The Parkland shooting did not prompt any major reform and firearm sales continued to climb.
Another mass shooting occurred in Texas, in which 19 school-age children were killed and 2 adults were injured at a Uvalde elementary school.
Congress passed legislation following the shootings that increased funding for school security as well as mental health care.