Parkland shooter

Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty a year ago to killing 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school.

This decision only makes it more likely that the next mass shooting will be attempted.” Two Stoneman Douglas students later killed themselves, one a close friend of one of the victims. [He] pressed the barrel of his weapon to my daughter’s chest, that doesn’t outweigh that what’s-his-name had a tough upbringing? My beautiful Gina, the other sons, daughters, spouses and fathers, they were the victims here. Others were in tears and hugged each other as the verdicts were read. “Society has to re-examine who and what is a victim.

Fourteen students and three staff members were killed in the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day in 2018.

Cruz's rampage is the deadliest mass shooting to go to trial in the U.S., according to The Associated Press. A previous version of this story said Cruz has been sentenced to life in prison. Late that day, the jury asked to see the murder weapon. "You now know that Nikolas is a brain-damaged, broken, mentally-ill person, through no fault of his own," Cruz's lawyer, Melissa McNeil, stated in closing arguments. Prosecutors had pushed for the death sentence. "That you can allow 17 dead and 17 others shot and wounded and not give the death penalty. Following the jury's recommendation, prosecutors requested that those who were victims of Cruz be allowed to present testimony about the crime and what they see as the appropriate sentence. The jury unanimously found that there had been aggravating factors in the murders Cruz committed. The question facing jurors now was whether Cruz would spend the rest of his life in prison or be sentenced to death. You set a precedent for the next mass killing, that nothing happens to you. He entered a school building through an unlocked side door and used an AR-15-style rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members, as well as wound 17 others. Cruz carried out the massacre on Valentine's Day in 2018.

The gunman who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has been spared the death penalty. A jury recommended that the ...

In one video, taken days before the shooting, the gunman said he planned to be the "next school shooter" of the year and that his goal was to murder at least 20 people. The gunman researched past mass killings, and posted online comments in which he said he would show "no mercy". The attack remains one of the deadliest school shootings in US history. "I pray that animal suffers every day of his life in jail," he said. It was the deadliest mass shooting case ever to reach a jury trial in the US. Tony Montalto - who lost his daughter, Gina, in the attack - shook his head repeatedly.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the man sentenced Thursday to life without parole for the 2018 killing of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School ...

The jury deliberated for seven hours before announcing its decision, ending the three-month penalty phase of the case. “He’s guilty — everybody knew that from the beginning — and yet it takes years and years in this legal system, that is not serving the victims,” said DeSantis, who is running for reelection. “I think that if you have a death penalty, then that is a case where you are massacring those students with premeditation and utter disregard for basic humanity that you deserve the death penalty,” he said.

A jury rejected the death penalty for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz in the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas ...

He was doomed in the womb." He played security videos of the shooting and showed gruesome crime scene and autopsy photos. Woodard "poisoned him in the womb. He took the jury to the fenced-off building, which remains blood-stained and bullet-pocked. He talked about the death of one 14-year-old girl. The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting to ever go to trial. His first reaction was to protect students and stop the carnage. Rumblings grew from the family section — packed with about three dozen parents, spouses, and other relatives of the victims — as life sentences were announced. He was on patrol there the day a former student opened fire on campus. He should’ve received the death sentence today." Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak at the sentencing hearing. "There is no reason, and if there is a reason why are we allowing people to randomly kill people."

On Thursday in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom, the jury in the Parkland school shooting trial penalty phase decided not to impose the death penalty on ...

The juror who thought death was the appropriate punishment said the other jurors who felt the same way even posted the autopsy photos of the victims to the jury room wall to ensure they all understood the impact of their decision. Family members of the victims in the courtroom at first looked at the jurors with hope, but the juror said she was unable to look back at them, knowing the verdict they were about to hear would devastate them. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.

A Florida jury's decision left relatives angry and upset - but was a result of the state's death penalty law.

Mr Satz pushed back on this in the trial's latter stages as it became a focus of the proceedings. "There was one [juror] with a hard no - she couldn't do it," he said. "It was calculated. "It really came down to a specific juror who believed [the gunman] was mentally ill," he said. "I hope he has the fear in him every second of his life. "We are just shocked by this result and it is so unjust," Lynn Chen, a cousin of Parkland victim Peter Wang, said.

The court was packed, but you could have heard a pin drop as victims waited for a verdict in the sentencing trial of the Parkland school shooter.

"And I could not be more disappointed in what happened today." Their son Luke was the very first name read in court. That's because most attackers are either killed by law enforcement in the course of their rampage or take their own lives in its immediate aftermath. When the judge read the verdict aloud, many observers were confused about what the result was because of the complex legal language. In turn, those 22 jurors heard more than three months of testimony. The gunman had said he watched his head explode like a water balloon. On each count, jurors acknowledged the crime that had been committed as well as how its brutal and premeditated nature warranted a death sentence for the gunman. I can't believe they gave a cold-blooded killer more mercy than the 17 victims he killed," Mrs Hoyer said. One woman screamed "shut it off" as loud gunfire was heard in audio footage. That was not the case here. A new youth movement demanding stricter gun laws, led by the school's students, kept the topic top of mind for weeks, if not months. "It's been a bad day.

More than four years after the valentine's day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the shooter, 24-year-old Nikolas Cruz has been sentenced to ...

Jurors recommended life in prison for the Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz Thursday after the final vote for the death penalty was not unanimous.

Prosecutors in the case of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are calling for an investigation after a juror said she felt threatened by another member of ...

"The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life," Cunha wrote. Jury foreman Benjamin Thomas told local reporters that three jurors voted for life on the final ballot. The motion calls for law enforcement to interview the unnamed juror after she told the state attorney's office "she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room." In the end, the jury could not agree that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones, so Cruz will get life without parole. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count.

Prosecutors in the case of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are calling for an investigation after a juror said she felt threatened by another member of ...

“The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life,” Cunha wrote. In the end, the jury could not agree that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones, so Cruz will get life without parole. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak. Even under that circumstance, prosecutors couldn’t retry the duo for drug trafficking, but did convict them on charges stemming from the bribery. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count. A hearing is set for Friday afternoon.

A divided jury spared Cruz of the death penalty and instead decided to send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Scherer said a bailiff told her later that one juror wanted to speak to her during Thursday’s reading of the decision. That means Scherer will sentence Cruz to life without parole at a Nov. They will be allowed to address Cruz at the hearing. That juror sat slumped over during the 50-minute reading but did nothing obvious to indicate he wanted Scherer’s attention. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote, and jurors decided there was no point in continuing deliberations. Even under that circumstance, prosecutors couldn’t retry the duo for drug trafficking, but did convict them on charges stemming from the bribery.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty for the now-24-year-old who killed 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, and injured ...

• The Lee district announced it would [reopen another 15 schools](https://www.news-press.com/story/weather/hurricane/2022/10/13/lee-county-schools-reopening-monday-after-hurricane-ian/10487016002/) next week, bringing the total to 29% of its 98 campuses, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. [has begun crafting guidelines](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/florida-department-of-education-begins-crafting-standards-around-dont-say-gay-law-32676132) to help schools implement new law on teaching about sexual identity and gender orientation, the News Services of Florida reports. Critics of UF’s presidential search complained it didn’t meet the Legislature’s intent on transparency. The Dr. The University of Florida received its largest individual donation ever. The board gave the superintendent a chance to revise the job description and salary range. Will you join them? About 1,800 students statewide have received a scholarship since the program’s inception. • The State Board of Education will consider a rule to [revoke the certification](https://weartv.com/news/local/florida-plans-to-revoke-teaching-licenses-for-those-who-discuss-sexual-orientation) of teachers who violate the law, WEAR reports. The defense raised mitigating circumstances in hopes of avoiding capital punishment. “I feel like I’m having a mental breakdown,” Bailey Spotz I just don’t understand.”

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Prosecutors of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz called for an investigation Friday after a juror said another panelist.

Scherer said a bailiff told her later that one juror wanted to speak to her during Thursday’s reading of the decision. That means Scherer will sentence Cruz to life without parole at a Nov. They will be allowed to address Cruz at the hearing. That juror sat slumped over during the 50-minute reading but did nothing obvious to indicate he wanted Scherer’s attention. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote, and jurors decided there was no point in continuing deliberations. Even under that circumstance, prosecutors couldn’t retry the duo for drug trafficking, but did convict them on charges stemming from the bribery.

Prosecutors want law enforcement to interview the juror who said she felt threatened by another juror during deliberations.

Jury foreman Benjamin Thomas told local reporters that three jurors voted for life on the final ballot. He did not say whether that person was Cunha. The seven-man, five-woman jury unanimously agreed there were aggravating factors to warrant a possible death sentence, such as agreeing that the murders were "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel." Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will formally issue the life sentences November 1. One or more jurors, however, stuck to the mitigating factors, such as untreated childhood issues. The motion filed by the state calls for law enforcement to interview the unnamed juror after she told the state attorney's office that "she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room."

Prosecutors in the case of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are calling for an investigation after a juror said she felt threatened by another member of ...

Jury foreman Benjamin Thomas told local reporters that three jurors voted for life on the final ballot. "The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life," Cunha wrote. A divided jury spared Cruz the death penalty and instead decided to send him to prison for the rest of his life in a decision that left many families of the victims angered, baffled and in tears. In the end, the jury could not agree that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones, so Cruz will get life without parole. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak. Even under that circumstance, prosecutors couldn’t retry the duo for drug trafficking, but did convict them on charges stemming from the bribery.

Prosecutors in the school shooter trial have filed a motion to have law enforcement interview a juror who reported feeling threatened by a peer on the ...

The jury determined there were aggravating factors that could warrant the death penalty for each of the 17 victims — but also found mitigating factors. and requested to speak with Assistant State Attorney Michael Satz, the lead prosecutor in the trial. The jury's verdict Thursday, which was highly anticipated, left family members whose loved ones were massacred by the gunman distraught, some visibly crying and shaking their heads in court.