Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland school shooter, was officially given a life sentence without the possibility of parole on Wednesday (local time), after spending two days being vilified by the families of his 17 murdered victims as a monster, coward, and subhuman.
Cruz, shackled and in a red jail jumpsuit, watched intently as Judge Elizabeth Scherer sentenced him to 17 life terms for the February 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in suburban Fort Lauderdale and an additional 17 for the attempted murders of those he wounded.
Cruz’s three-month penalty trial jury unanimously decided to sentence him to death on October 13 by a vote of 9-3, but according to Florida law, this cannot happen. As a result, Scherer was left with no other option.
Cruz admitted to the judge during interrogation prior to sentencing that he takes medication but can grasp what is going on.
Parents, wives, brothers, and other relatives of the deceased as well as some of the injured survivors walked 20 feet to a lectern to address the judge before the sentencing.
The judge praised the families and injured witnesses, describing them as strong, elegant, and patient.
Scherer remarked, “I know you are going to be OK because you have each other.
After nearly five years, more family members of the 17 victims killed by Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz had their chance to confront him verbally on Wednesday during the second day of a hearing that will result in Cruz being officially sentenced to life without parole.
Linda Beigel Schulman, mother of teacher Scott Beigel, spoke of vengeance when she got her turn to confront Cruz.
“Real justice would be done if every family here were given a bullet and your AR-15 and we got to pick straws, and each one of us got to shoot one at a time at you, making sure that you felt every bit of it, and your fear continued to mount until the last family member who pulled that last straw had the privilege of making sure that they killed you,” Beigel Schulman said. “That serves you some genuine justice.
As he had the day before, Cruz looked at the speakers while handcuffed and dressed in a red jail jumpsuit while displaying little expression.
When victim Jaime Guttenberg’s mother Jennifer Guttenberg stood to speak, she began by chastising Cruz for concealing his face and facial expressions beneath a blue Covid mask. Cruz then took off the mask.
Cruz was found guilty of the Valentine’s Day 2018 shooting at the Fort Lauderdale suburb’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Cruz’s penalty trial jury could not reach a majority decision that he deserved the death penalty, therefore Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer was forced to administer that sentence.
Cruz, a former student at Stoneman Douglas who was 19 at the time, dressed in a school shirt to help him blend in with evacuating classmates. He was detained for one hour.
On the second day of testimony, relatives of the deceased and some of the 17 injured went to a lectern that was about six metres away from Cruz.
Cruz’s jury voted 9-3 on October 13 to carry out his execution, defying a Florida rule that calls for jury unanimity to impose a capital sentence.
Cruz will spend the rest of his life worrying constantly about his safety in a maximum-security jail, according to Beigel Schulman, who claimed she finds some solace in this knowledge.
Beigel Schulman stated to Cruz, “From what I hear, child murders are severely despised and detested in prison.
“I look forward to the day when I hear that you have been tortured and executed for your cold-blooded, premeditated, deliberate, horrible murders, for you deserve no less,” the speaker said.
David Alhadeff, Alyssa Alhadeff’s uncle, informed Cruz through Zoom from his Maryland classroom that he merits “the opportunity to rot away.”
“You deserve the opportunity to absorb the look of terror on your face once you leave this courtroom,” Alhadeff said.
You should have the chance to know that justice will eventually triumph despite your constant suffering from minute to minute to day to day.
Killer of the Parkland school was given a life sentence.
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