FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — With his fate sealed and his life spared, the gunman who took 17 lives stepped into a Broward courtroom Tuesday morning to face return fire.
Armed only with their grief expressed through words, family members of those murdered and wounded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School sought to inflict on Nikolas Cruz just a fraction of the pain they suffered because of what he did more than 4 1/2 years ago.
They told him he got away with murder. They told him he will suffer in prison for the rest of his life. They told him he was lucky to escape the death penalty. They told him he was a waste of breath. And they told him he would die forgotten — “a name on a tombstone that no one ever visits,” said Thomas Hixon, whose father, Christopher, was one of the 17 killed.
A Broward jury failed to come back with a unanimous recommendation for death last month after three months of testimony in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom. Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty to the murders and attempted murders a little over a year ago.
He now faces the certainty of a life sentence and the uncertainty of so-called “prison justice.”
“You were given a gift of grace and mercy, something you did not show to any of your victims,” said Debbi Hixon, the victim’s wife, now a member of the Broward School Board. “For me, you will cease to exist. You have taken enough. ... You wanted to see the families suffer. Well, no more.”
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to run through Wednesday afternoon before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, inevitably, sentences Cruz to 34 life sentences, one for each person whose flesh was pierced by a bullet fired from the gunman’s AR-15 style rifle.
At least two families won’t address the killer before the formal sentencing. Prosecutors announced in court that the family of assistant football coach Aaron Feis won’t attend because Feis’ mother died last week.
Fred Guttenberg, the father of 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg, said on Twitter that he won’t be there Tuesday either.
“My life is no longer dependent on the outcome of this trial and delivering another impact statement will not make me feel better and so I will not be doing so today,” Guttenberg wrote.
Max Schachter, father of slain victim Alex Schachter, challenged every major contention raised by the defense, from the notion that the defendant slipped through the cracks to the idea that he was traumatized by the deaths of his parents.
Cruz had hundreds of hours of counseling from mental health experts throughout his life, and he made his mother’s life miserable, Schachter said. “That creature has no redeemable value,” he said, adding that he hopes other prisoners make Cruz suffer “at least 17 times over.”
Vicky Alhadeff, grandmother of slain victim Alyssa Alhadeff, had similar hopes.
“The fact that you are breathing the same air as I am sends shivers down my spine,” she said. “May every second of your rotten existence be faced with the images of each person you’ve slaughtered along with each family member you’ve damaged.”
Some comments were directed at the defense team. Schachter speculated that they forsook justice for a book deal.
Patricia Oliver, mother of victim Joaquin Oliver, accused them of cozying up to Cruz like a “sadist fetish” and using fear to persuade the jurors away from voting for the death penalty.
“One thought comes to mind at this moment: Karma. Karma,” she said. “This is what you all will face for the rest of your miserable life. The fact of facing your children, your family members, your society.”
The defense team came under so much fire that McNeill had to object. “I did my job and every member of this team did our job,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion, “and we should not be attacked for that, and neither should our children.”
Outside the courtroom, Public Defender Gordon Weekes, McNeill’s boss, said the comments directed at the defense would have a chilling effect on future trials and could encourage someone in the current political climate to seek retribution. “The dog whistles are dangerous,” he said.
But Tuesday’s hearing was about the grief of the families and their frustration with a decision they believe deprived them of justice.
Anne Ramsay, mother of Helena Ramsay, took the opportunity to criticize officials for how her family was treated after the shooting, leading them to believe Helena was wounded when they knew she had been killed.
Ellen Mayer read a letter from her daughter, Samantha, who survived the shooting. She said she feared Cruz may someday be released from prison, though current Florida law prohibits that. “Justice has not been served. Now we all have to breathe the same air as someone who wanted us to never take another breath.”
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