Parkland school shooter avoids the death penalty after jury recommends life in prison without parole

Table Of Content

• Explore Bahamas
• Florida based Tijuana Flats closing 11 restaurants, files for bankruptcy
• The jury has reached a verdict
• "If not now the death penalty, then when?" Parkland shooting victim's family asks
• Alaina Petty's father: State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Parkland shooter should be put to death

They then must determine whether the aggravating circumstances "outweigh" the mitigating factors that the defense argued such as his birth mother's drinking, his adoptive mother's alleged failure to get him proper psychiatric care and his admission of guilt. Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty last year to the murders of 14 students and three staff members at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14th, 2018. In a rare move, jurors in August visited the site of the massacre, where nothing had been changed from that deadly day more than four years ago, except for the removal of the victims’ bodies and some personal items. They walked past dried Valentine's Day rose petals scattered on classroom floors, large pools of dried blood and bullet-riddled walls. He pleaded guilty last October to murdering 14 students and three staff members in the massacre. The shooter's sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 1 — at which time a formal ruling will be issued.

Explore Bahamas

Join a snorkeling adventure to admire the vibrant corals and schools of fish that have colonized a shipwreck before relaxing with an ice-cold rum punch. Then join a painting class and try to capture the astonishing shades of the Caribbean. When you arrive in the capital of Nassau on your Bahamas cruise, you’ll have the entire day to explore the city and the surrounding islands. Stroll along the buzzing Cable Beach, and shop for local crafts at the Nassau Straw Market.

Florida based Tijuana Flats closing 11 restaurants, files for bankruptcy

Slip away for a 3-, 4- or 5-day cruise from Miami or Tampa, or cruise from Orlando (Port Canaveral) if you're in need of a quick getaway. Visit Great Stirrup Cay, where you can swim with stingrays, kayak, or enjoy island cocktails in your own private cabana. Whether you're looking for a tropical adventure, a little romance, or just a great time with the kids, we've got plenty of Bahamas cruises to choose from. Add in Freestyle Cruising with our award-winning dining, entertainment, and accommodations and you have the perfect Bahamas vacation.

The jury has reached a verdict

Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son, teacher Scott Beigel, was murdered by Cruz, said she hopes Cruz "has the fear in him every second of his life just the way he gave that fear to every one of our loved ones whom he murdered, or the students and people that he harmed." The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that, ahead of Cruz's formal sentencing and transfer to prison, the sheriff's office filed a motion in court seeking to recover $250,000 — the maximum amount they are entitled to under Florida law. The state attorney's office asked for law enforcement to interview the unnamed juror after she told the state attorney’s office about what "she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room."

Live on island time.

To reach that decision, each juror had to vote 17 times - once for each victim. In their votes, jurors unanimously found that the established aggravating factors were sufficient to warrant a possible sentence of death. However, the jury found the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factors. Parkland school shooting victim Joaquin Oliver's family expressed shock and disgust after shooter Nikolas Cruz avoided the death penalty as a jury recommended life without the possibility of parole on all counts against him.

Thomas told other local media outlets that one juror felt Nikolas Cruz was mentally ill and therefore should not be sentenced to death. The jury is sequestered, staying at an undisclosed hotel with no cell phones and no television. Jurors are allowed one phone call a day and that will be monitored by a law enforcement officer.

On October 20, 2021, Cruz pleaded guilty to all charges and apologized for his crimes. Nikolas Jacob Cruz (born September 24, 1998)[1][2][3] is an American mass murderer who perpetrated the Parkland high school shooting, where he shot and killed 17 people and wounded 17 others on February 14, 2018. In 2022, Cruz was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his involvement in the deaths and injuries caused during the shooting, which is the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. Benjamin Thomas, the foreperson for the jury that recommended the Parkland school shooter be sentenced to life in prison, told CNN affiliate WFOR that three jurors voted against the death penalty. Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison by a Florida jury for carrying out the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives.

Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the jury said Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed. Fathers, mothers, cousins and other loved ones of those who were murdered in the 2018 Parkland school massacre gave emotional reactions immediately after a jury decided to recommend life in prison without parole for Nikolas Cruz. Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom. Earlier this year the Florida Supreme Court granted a Death Row inmate's request to disqualify her from his case because of actions after Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to life in prison last year. On Wednesday, following two days of impassioned statements from victims and family members, the judge read off each count of murder and attempted murder, 34 in total.

"This is insane. Everyone knows right? This is insane," Chen Wang, cousin of shooting victim Peter Wang, said at a news conference after the jury’s decision was read. Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the victims, told ABC News Live he had hoped for the death penalty. That led to an exchange between the prosecution and Judge Elizabeth Scherer. The judge initially said she intended to send the firearm to the jury, but was unable to because of "security reasons." The Broward County Sheriff's Office did not want to take the unloaded, inoperable firearm back to the jury room at that time. On Wednesday, they deliberated for about six hours, including asking to have read back to them the prosecution's cross-examination of a defense psychologist Dr. Paul Connor who said Cruz suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. They also asked for a read back of Dr. Robert Denny's testimony, he was the neuropsychologist who interviewed Cruz in jail.

But the sheriff's office said the vast majority of the costs came from paying overtime to detention deputies assigned to supervise Cruz at the jail. "The way that Joaquin died ... the amount of suffering and pain, the shooter will have never received that punishment." One juror was a "hard no" when it came to the death penalty, and two more jurors "ended up voting the same way,” Thomas told reporters. After he is sentenced, the Florida Department of Corrections would assign him to a maximum security prison where he would be part of the general population. McNeill, in her closing argument, alluded that could be an exceedingly dangerous place for someone like Cruz.

A two-day hearing is scheduled to begin Tuesday that will conclude with Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer formally sentencing Cruz for his Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Because the jury at his penalty trial could not unanimously agree that the 24-year-old deserved a death sentence, Scherer can only sentence the former Stoneman Douglas student to life without parole — an outcome most of the families criticized. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life in prison this week — but not before the families of the 17 people he murdered get the chance to tell him what they think.