The News: Nikolas Cruz, the shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole on Thursday by a jury of 12.
What sentence did the jury give Nikolas Cruz for the Parkland school shooting?
The murderer of 17 people at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was not given the death penalty.
For the shooting on February 14, 2018, a jury recommended that the defendant, 24, should serve his entire life in prison.
Are the relatives of the victims happy with this verdict?
As the verdict was read out in court, relatives of the victims were clearly upset and furious.
On November 1, a sentencing hearing will take place. In October of last year, Nikolas Cruz, the shooter, entered a plea of guilty to the killings. It was the most deadly mass shooting case that a jury has ever heard in the US.
Those who lost loved ones denounced the decision to spare Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty as “unreal” and “wrong” at a press conference that followed.
Juri about the death penalty
The jury’s verdict was a setback for the prosecution, who had consistently argued that the acts were “cold, planned, and premeditated,” and that they matched Florida’s criteria for “aggravating elements” that call for the death penalty. A death sentence would have required a unanimous decision.
While the jury agreed that there were circumstances that would support the death penalty, it became clear as each of the 17 counts was read out in court that at least one juror also thought there were “mitigating circumstances” that supported life in prison.
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