UPDATE: Florida jury spares Parkland school gunman from death penalty [View all]

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Last edited Thu Oct 13, 2022, 01:10 PM - Edit history (3)

Source: Reuters

Oct 13 (Reuters) - A Florida jury on Thursday decided to spare Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who killed 17 people in 2018 at a high school in the city of Parkland, from the death penalty, instead calling for life in prison.

Some family members of victims shook their heads in the Fort Lauderdale courtroom as the jury rejected the prosecution's request for the death penalty for Cruz in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, determining that aggravating factors were outweighed by mitigating circumstances.

Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Fort Lauderdale. Cruz used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members.

The sentencing trial, held after Cruz's guilty plea, lasted three months. Jurors began their deliberations on Wednesday. Under Florida law, a jury must be unanimous in its decision to recommend that a judge sentence Cruz to be executed. The only other option in the case was life in prison.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/florida-jury-has-reached-verdict-parkland-shooter-case-media-reports-2022-10-13/

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Last updates/headlines -

UPDATE: Florida jury says man who confessed to Parkland school shooting should be sentenced to life

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jurors determined Thursday that Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. Jurors determined in each of 17 murders that mitigating circumstances outweighed aggravating factors, so the death penalty was not supported.

Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.

The prosecution during the three-month sentencing trial had argued Cruz's crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence.

Cruz's defense team had acknowledged the severity of his crimes, but asked jurors to consider mitigating factors including lifelong mental health disorders resulting from his biological mother's substance abuse during pregnancy.

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jurors determined Thursday that Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to death for a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. Jurors determined in at least one of the murders that there were aggravating factors that would support a death sentence, but in other cases they did not.

Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.

The prosecution during the three-month sentencing trial had argued Cruz's crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence. Cruz's defense team had acknowledged the severity of his crimes, but asked jurors to consider mitigating factors including lifelong mental health disorders resulting from his biological mother's substance abuse during pregnancy.

Under Florida law, a death sentence could only have been handed down if jurors had unanimously recommended he be executed. The only other option was life in prison. Cruz, who at the time of the shooting was 19 and had been expelled from the high school, had apologized for his crimes and asked to be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole in order to dedicate his life to helping others.

Article updated for MULTIPLE counts. Article headline updated again! Apparently the news sources are responding to each count.

Previous update and headline -

UPDATE: Florida jury says man who confessed to Parkland school shooting should be sentenced to death

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jurors determined Thursday that Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to death for a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. Jurors determined in at least one of the murders that there were aggravating factors that would support a death sentence, but in other cases they did not.

Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. The prosecution during the three-month sentencing trial had argued Cruz's crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence.

Cruz's defense team had acknowledged the severity of his crimes, but asked jurors to consider mitigating factors including lifelong mental health disorders resulting from his biological mother's substance abuse during pregnancy. Under Florida law, a death sentence could only have been handed down if jurors had unanimously recommended he be executed. The only other option was life in prison.

Cruz, who at the time of the shooting was 19 and had been expelled from the high school, had apologized for his crimes and asked to be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole in order to dedicate his life to helping others. The sentencing proceedings included testimony from survivors of the shooting as well as cellphone videos in which terrified students cried for help or spoke in hushed whispers as they hid. The Parkland shooting had led to renewed calls for tighter gun control in the United States.

UPDATE:

Jurors determined in at least one of the murders that there were aggravating factors that would support a death sentence, but in other cases they did not.

Original article and headline -

Florida jury says man who confessed to Parkland school shooting should be sentenced to life

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jurors determined Thursday that Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison for a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people. Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

He used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history. The prosecution during the three-month sentencing trial had argued Cruz's crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence.

Cruz's defense team had acknowledged the severity of his crimes, but asked jurors to consider mitigating factors including lifelong mental health disorders resulting from his biological mother's substance abuse during pregnancy.

Under Florida law, a death sentence could only have been handed down if jurors had unanimously recommended he be executed. The only other option was life in prison. Cruz, who at the time of the shooting was 19 and had been expelled from the high school, had apologized for his crimes and asked to be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole in order to dedicate his life to helping others.