Source: South China Morning Post – A US jury determined on Thursday that Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison for a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people.
Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.
The prosecution during the three-month sentencing trial had argued Cruz’s crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence.
Cruz’s defence team had acknowledged the severity of his crimes but asked jurors to consider mitigating factors including lifelong mental health disorders resulting from his biological mother’s substance abuse during pregnancy.
Under Florida law, a death sentence could only have been handed down if jurors had unanimously recommended that he be executed. The only other option was life in prison.
The sentencing proceedings included testimony from survivors of the shooting as well as mobile phone videos in which terrified students cried for help or spoke in hushed whispers as they hid.
Cruz, who at the time of the shooting was 19 and had been expelled from the high school, had apologised for his crimes and asked to be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole to dedicate his life to helping others.
The trial included graphic videos, photos and testimony from the massacre and its aftermath, heart-wrenching testimony from victims’ family members and a tour of the still blood-spattered building.
Cruz had said he chose Valentine’s Day for his rampage to make it impossible for Stoneman Douglas students to celebrate the holiday ever again.
During the prosecution’s rebuttal case, Satz and his team argued that Cruz’s smooth movements with the gun and his ease in reloading helps show he does not have any neurological disorders, as claimed by his lawyer.
A US jury determined on Thursday that Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison for a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people.
Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.
The prosecution during the three-month sentencing trial had argued Cruz’s crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence.
Cruz’s defence team had acknowledged the severity of his crimes but asked jurors to consider mitigating factors including lifelong mental health disorders resulting from his biological mother’s substance abuse during pregnancy.
Under Florida law, a death sentence could only have been handed down if jurors had unanimously recommended that he be executed. The only other option was life in prison.
The sentencing proceedings included testimony from survivors of the shooting as well as mobile phone videos in which terrified students cried for help or spoke in hushed whispers as they hid.
Cruz, who at the time of the shooting was 19 and had been expelled from the high school, had apologised for his crimes and asked to be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole to dedicate his life to helping others.
