Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has avoided the death penalty after a jury recommended life without the possibility of parole on all counts against him, in America’s deadliest high school massacre.
Cruz was tried for the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed, including 14 students and three school staff members.
Prosecutors had asked the jury to sentence the gunman, now 24, to death, arguing in part his crime was especially heinous or cruel, CNN reported.
But without the unanimous jury recommendation required under Florida law, Cruz’s sentence defaults to life, which the gunman’s defence attorneys had argued for, contending Cruz suffered throughout his life from mental disorders and developmental delays.
On each count, the jury found Cruz eligible for the death penalty based on aggravating circumstances – but did not unanimously find that those aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors.
Cruz’s sentencing date, when a judge will issue the formal sentence, is set for November 1.
Under Florida law, the judge cannot depart from the jury’s recommendation of life.
Parents of victims have described the decision as a gut punch, disgusting, and making another mass shooting more likely.
The mother of Helena Ramsey, a 17-year-old Marjory Stoneman senior who was killed in the Parkland massacre, made an impassioned plea for change and condemned the trial’s outcome outside court on Thursday (local time), CNN reported.
“After spending months and months listening, and hearing testimonies, and looking at the murderer – his composure – I believe justice was not done,” Anne Ramsay said.
“The wrong verdict was given out today.”
Ms Ramsay called for national soul-searching – and alluded to policy change for guns and policing.
“President Biden, it’s been four years, and I’ve listened to countless shootings, one after another, traumatising my family, traumatising our neighbourhood,” she said.
