Jury Reaches Verdict on Parkland Shooter
(RepublicanNews.org) – On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz stormed into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and opened fire. The expelled student killed a total of 17 people during his rampage and wounded 17 others in under four minutes. Unlike many such school shootings, the suspect did not take his own life but was arrested soon after the incident.
On October 13, a Fort Lauderdale jury recommended life in prison for the murderer. The panel also suggested the judge withhold early release when he formally sentences Cruz. All 12 jurors concluded the killings were “calculated and premeditated” but also admitted there were “mitigating circumstances” leading to the deadly event.
BREAKING: Jury rejects the death penalty for the shooter in the 2018 massacre that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The decision means he will get life in prison when sentenced by a judge. https://t.co/Xy46piuRJ7 pic.twitter.com/fbm5HtTYyO
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 13, 2022
The defense alleged that the killer’s mother used drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant with him, resulting in a “fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.” They surmised the condition led the young man to go on a shooting spree that day in 2018.
Cruz pleaded guilty to the charges against him in October 2021. At the time, he apologized to the victims and their families for his actions. The criminal said it’s something he has to “live with… every day.”
During the sentence reading, many people present in the gallery were visibly unhappy about the decision to spare the defendant’s life. Some of them left with apparent disgust on their faces.
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