The gunman who killed 17 people at a South Florida high school in 2018 is expected to be sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, capping a harrowing, months-long trial in which a jury declined to recommend the death penalty.
Nikolas Cruz, 24, is set to face more of his victims in court before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer formally imposes the sentence she recommended last month — an outcome that disappointed and angered many relatives of those he killed, including some who faced Cruz on Tuesday in court.
LIVE UPDATES: Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz to be formally sentenced
“I’m too old to see you serve a life sentence, but I hope the moment you breathe here on Earth is miserable and you repent for your sins,” Teresa Robinovitch, the grandmother of murdered 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, he said to the shooter. “And burn in hell.”
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which despite America’s ongoing epidemic of gun violence remains the deadliest mass shooting at a US high school .
The state sought the death penalty, so Cruz’s trial moved to the sentencing phase, in which a jury was tasked with hearing prosecutors and defense attorneys argue why they thought he should or shouldn’t be put to death.
The prosecution argued, in part, that the shooting was particularly heinous, horrific or cruel and was premeditated and calculated. The defense, pushing for a life sentence, pointed to the offender’s mental or intellectual deficits that they said stemmed from prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Three jurors were persuaded to vote for life, sparing Cruz the death penalty, which in Florida a jury must recommend unanimously. Scherer must follow the jury’s recommendation of life without parole, according to state law.
However, the life sentence was less than what many of those injured Cruz and the families of those he killed wanted.
“It’s really, really sad. I miss my little boy,” Max Schachter, father of 14-year-old victim Alex Schachter, told CNN Wednesday before the sentencing. “It’s not right that the worst high school shooter in U.S. history basically gets what he wants,” he said, referring to Cruz’s life sentence.
“She shouldn’t live,” Anthony Modalto III, whose older sister Gina, 14, was killed in the shooting, said during testimony Tuesday, “while my sister is rotting in the grave.”
Of those killed, 14 were students and three were members of staff who died running towards danger or trying to help students escape.
The students killed were: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Martin Duque Anguiano, 14; Nicholas Dworet, 17; Jaime Guttenberg, 14; Luke Hoyer, 15; Cara Loughran, 14; Gina Modalto, 14; Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alaina Petty, 14; Meadow Pollack, 18; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alex Schachter, 14; Carmen Schentrup, 16; and Peter Wang, 15.
Geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35; wrestling coach Chris Hixon, 49; and assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 37, were also killed.
Much is still unclear about what Cruz’s future will look like. He will likely be held in Broward County before being turned over to the Florida Department of Corrections and transferred to one of several reception centers around the state.
There, Cruz will spend weeks undergoing physical and mental exams, Florida criminal defense attorney Janet Johnson told CNN. “They’re going to look at his record, they’re going to look at the level of crime he’s been convicted of, which is obviously the highest, and they’re going to recommend a facility somewhere in the state,” he said.
Which facility is determined by factors such as the seriousness of the offense, the length of the sentence and the inmate’s prior criminal record, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website. Typically, those convicted of the most serious crimes or with the longest sentences are placed in the most secure facilities, the website says.
Because Cruz is a high-risk offender, he will likely be incarcerated with other high-profile or “very dangerous criminals,” Johnson said.
“But he wouldn’t be in solitary, which of course is a real threat to him because there might be people who want to deliver ‘prison justice’ who didn’t think the sentence he got in court was enough,” Johnson said. added.
The corrections department did not respond to CNN’s question about what kind of mental health treatment Cruz may receive while in prison. During the trial, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office released more than 30 pages of Cruz’s writings and drawings that revealed disturbing thoughts he had while in custody, focusing on guns, blood and death.
On one page, Cruz wrote that he wanted to be sentenced to death, while on another he told his family he was sad and hoped to die of a heart attack by taking painkillers and overeating.
As for the victims and their families, the end of the gunman’s trial merely marks the closing of a chapter in a life’s journey of grief.
“I want to put this behind me,” Max Schachter told CNN on Wednesday. “I’m going to court later today. He will be sentenced to life in prison and I will never think of this murderer again.”
title: “Parkland Shooter Nikolas Cruz Expected To Be Sentenced To Life In Prison Wednesday "
ShowToc: true
date: “2022-10-31”
author: “Renee Wisham”
The gunman who killed 17 people at a South Florida high school in 2018 is expected to be sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, capping a harrowing, months-long trial in which a jury declined to recommend the death penalty.
Nikolas Cruz, 24, faces more of his victims in court first before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer formally imposes the sentence she recommended last month, an outcome that disappointed and angered many relatives of those he killed — a sentiment many expressed in their testimony about their victims. this week.
“It’s heartbreaking how whoever heard and saw all of this didn’t give this killer the worst possible punishment,” Annika Dworet, the mother of 17-year-old victim Nicholas Dworet, said Wednesday. “As we all know the worst punishment in the state of Florida is the death penalty. How much worse would the crime have to be to warrant the death penalty?”
Wednesday marked the second day of emotional victim testimony, following an earlier round on Tuesday, when dozens of victims’ relatives and some of the shooting survivors confronted Cruz, who pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. manslaughter for the massacre. at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Despite America’s ongoing epidemic of gun violence, it remains the deadliest mass shooting at a US high school.
LIVE UPDATES: Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz to be formally sentenced
Others who testified Wednesday spoke of the anguish the shooting had caused them, including Lori Alhadeff, who said she went to the medical examiner’s office to see the body of her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa and touched the spots where the gunman shot her. hoping to bring her back to life.
“You robbed Alyssa of a lifetime of memories,” he told the gunman. “Alyssa will never graduate from high school. Alyssa will never go to college and Alyssa will never play soccer. She’ll never get married and never have a baby.”
“My hope for you is that you’re miserable for the rest of your pathetic life,” Lori Alhadev added. “My hope for you is that the pain of what you did to my family burns and wounds you every day.”
The state sought the death penalty, so Cruz’s trial moved to the sentencing phase, in which a jury was tasked with hearing prosecutors and defense attorneys argue why they thought he should or shouldn’t be put to death.
The prosecution argued, in part, that the shooting was particularly heinous, horrific or cruel and was premeditated and calculated. The defense, pushing for a life sentence, pointed to the offender’s mental or intellectual deficits that they said stemmed from prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Three jurors were persuaded to vote for life, sparing Cruz the death penalty, which in Florida a jury must recommend unanimously. Scherer must follow the jury’s recommendation of life without parole, according to state law.
Throughout his testimony this week, the gunman remained unconscious, wearing a red prison jumpsuit and glasses. He was also wearing a medical mask, though he took it off Wednesday after Jennifer Guttenberg, mother of 14-year-old victim Jaime, told him it was disrespectful.
“You shouldn’t be sitting there with a mask on your face. It’s disrespectful to hide your expressions under your mask when we as families are sitting here talking to you,” she said during her testimony. “Get down to your seat. Crouching down trying to make yourself look innocent when you’re not because you admitted what you did. And everyone knows what you did.”
The gunman then removed the mask, but his facial expression did not change.
Of those killed, 14 were students and three were members of staff who died running towards danger or trying to help students escape.
The students killed were: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Martin Duque Anguiano, 14; Nicholas Dworet, 17; Jaime Guttenberg, 14; Luke Hoyer, 15; Cara Loughran, 14; Gina Modalto, 14; Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alaina Petty, 14; Meadow Pollack, 18; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alex Schachter, 14; Carmen Schentrup, 16; and Peter Wang, 15.
Geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35; wrestling coach Chris Hixon, 49; and assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 37, were also killed.
The life sentence was less than what many of those injured by Cruz and the families of those he killed had wanted, with some saying in testimony this week that it indicated the jury placed more weight on his life than the lives of others. 17 dead.
“It’s really, really sad. I miss my little boy,” Max Schachter, father of 14-year-old victim Alex Schachter, told CNN Wednesday before the sentencing. “It’s not right that the worst high school shooter in U.S. history basically gets what he wants,” he said, referring to Cruz’s life sentence.
Samantha Fuentes, one of the shooting survivors, confronted Cruz Wednesday, admitting she was “angry” about his sentence. But unlike him, she said, “I will never transfer my anger, pain and suffering to others because I am stronger than you. This whole community standing behind me is stronger than you.”
Fuentes reminded Cruz that they walked the same hallways and were even in JROTC together.
“We were still kids then,” he said. “I was still a kid when I saw you standing at the window, looking at my Holocaust studies class, holding your AR-15 that had, ironically, scratched swastikas on it. I was still a child after I saw you kill two of my friends. I was still a child when you shot me with your gun.”
Another student, Victoria Gonzalez, Joaquin Oliver’s girlfriend, similarly reminded the gunman that they too had shared a class together, recalling how the teacher would walk into the room each day asking the students for an answer from their homework to make sure every student had done it. Every day, he said, he hoped Cruz had his — for his sake.
“I was silently rooting for you in my office. You had no idea who I was and I adored you,” Gonzalez said. “Because I felt like you needed someone or you needed something. And I could feel that.”
But Joaquin’s killing made it difficult for Gonzalez to make friends, to be close to others, she said, and to allow others to love her as he did.
“I wish you could meet Joaquin,” he said. “Because he would be your friend. He would have extended a hand to you.”
Much is still unclear about what Cruz’s future will look like. He will likely be held in Broward County before being turned over to the Florida Department of Corrections and transferred to one of several reception centers around the state.
There, Cruz will spend weeks undergoing physical and mental exams, Florida criminal defense attorney Janet Johnson told CNN. “They’re going to look at his record, they’re going to look at the level of crime he’s been convicted of, which is obviously the highest, and they’re going to recommend a facility somewhere in the state,” he said.
Which facility is determined by factors such as the seriousness of the offense, the length of the sentence and the inmate’s prior criminal record, according to the Florida Department of Corrections website. Typically, those convicted of the most serious crimes or with the longest sentences are placed in the most secure facilities, the website says.
Because Cruz is a high-risk offender, he will likely be incarcerated with other high-profile or “very dangerous criminals,” Johnson said.
“But he wouldn’t be in solitary, which of course is a real threat to him because there might be people who want to deliver ‘prison justice’ who didn’t think the sentence he got in court was enough,” Johnson said. added.
The corrections department did not respond to CNN’s question about what kind of mental health treatment Cruz may receive while in prison. During the trial, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office released more than 30 pages of Cruz’s writings and drawings that revealed disturbing thoughts he had while in custody, focusing on guns, blood and death.
On one page, Cruz wrote that he wanted to be sentenced to death, while on another he told his family he was sad and hoped to die of a heart attack by taking painkillers and overeating.
As for the victims and their families, the end of the gunman’s trial merely marks the closing of a chapter in a life’s journey of grief.
“I want to put this behind me,” Max Schachter told CNN on Wednesday. “I’m going to court later today. He will be sentenced to life in prison and I will never think of this murderer again.”
