Parkland School Shooter Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole, Death Penalty Rejected (UPDATE)

On Thursday, a 12-person jury reached its decision and recommended life in prison without parole for Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz
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FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - AUGUST 30: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz sits at the defense table during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse on August 30, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings. (Photo by Amy Beth Bennett-Pool/Getty Images)

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz

UPDATED November 2, 5:10 p.m. ET:Nikolas Cruz will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The 24-year-old man received a sentence of life without parole for the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. According to CBS News, the sentenced was handed down by Judge Elizabeth Scherer on Wednesday, after a 12-person jury recommended Cruz receive life sentence rather than the death penalty. 

“It was extremely painful to hear all the horrific details of this massacre at our children’s high school,” said Annika Dworet, whose 17-year-old son, Alex, was killed in the school shooting. “Just to be in the same room as this monster who killed our son Nicholas and attempted to murder our son Alex. It’s unbearable. One of the most disgusting and unprofessional actions that occurred in this courtroom was the defense team holding, touching and giggling with this cold-blooded murderer.”

See the original story from 10/13/22 below.

A Florida jury has recommended Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Per Associated Press, a 12-person jury reached the verdict following seven hours of deliberations over the course of two days. Judge Elizbaeth Scherer is expected to formally issue a life sentence on Nov. 1, at which point relatives of victims and those he wounded during the shooting will have the opportunity to speak.

The 24-year-old shooter pleaded guilty to the murder of 14 students and three staff members last year. He carried out the shooting in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, 2018, during which he also wounded 17 others. Since Florida law dictates a death sentence requires unanimous vote, Cruz will avoid the death penalty. Lead prosecutor Mike Satz said in his closing statements that “the appropriate sentence” for Cruz would have been the death penalty. 

Throughout the three-month trial, Satz highlighted that Cruz exhibited eight months of planning prior to the shooting. He fired 140 shots with his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, which he legally purchased in February 2017. In videos and posts shared online, Cruz had shared racist, homophobic, antisemitic, and xenophobic views.

“It’s pretty unreal that nobody paid attention to the facts of this case, that nobody can remember who the victim is and what they look like,” said Tony Montalto, the father of shooting victim 14-year-old Gina Montalto, during a press conference on Thursday, per CNN. “I see my beautiful daughter’s face around our home, in my dreams. And I miss her very much.” 

Criticizing the verdict, he read a prepared sentence on behalf of the advocacy group Stand With Parkland that described the ruling as “yet another gut punch for so many of us who devastatingly lost our loved ones.” The group plans to continue to push for changes at federal, state, and local levels to prevent further school shootings.

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