Florida jury gives Parkland shooter life behind bars instead of death penalty
A jury in Florida has spared Parkland mass shooter Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty, and given him life in prison without the possibility of parole instead.
Cruz was 19 when he opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — his former school — in Parkland, Florida. The attack occurred on Valentine’s Day in 2018.
Seventeen students and staff members were killed and several were left injured. Cruz fled the scene but was caught by police soon after.
On Thursday, the jury deciding Cruz’s fate said it could not collectively give him the death penalty. His trial lasted for three months and the jury’s deliberations took seven hours.
Cruz will formally be given the life sentence on November 1. But families of those killed in the shooting are unsatisfied.
According to CNN, the parents of slain 14-year-old student Alex Schachter are “shocked and devastated” about the jury’s decision to spare Cruz the death penalty.
“Coming in here today, we thought we were going to get justice. We thought that finally the Parkland murderer was going to be held accountable for his actions,” Max Schachter, Alex’s father, said. “It’s so upsetting. It’s just unbelievable. It’s just a travesty of justice.”
The Parkland shooter trial has significantly boosted the gun control conversation in the US. Soon after the shooting occurred, Florida passed a state law banning the sale of rifles to anyone under the age of 21 and made the background check process for gun buyers more robust.