Satz, the lead prosecutor, kept his case simple for the seven-man, five-woman jury. The suspect in the 2019 massacre of 23 at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart is awaiting trial. who fatally shot at least 17 people died during or immediately after their attacks by suicide or police gunfire. The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting to go to trial in the U.S. ‘If I wasn’t shot, it would be the perfect day,’ says 8-year-old paralyzed in Highland Park shooting We hope that, while there is no such thing as closure, this will bring some measure of finality and justice to this terrible chapter.”Ĭruz, a former student at the school, said he chose Valentine’s Day to make it impossible for Stoneman Douglas students to celebrate the holiday again. But then-Broward State Attorney Mike Satz rejected that.īroward State Attorney Harold Pryor released a statement Thursday saying: “We have not shied away from telling all of the horror, all of the loss, all of the devastation, all of the pain, all of the facts, all of the truth. ![]() Just days after the shooting, Cruz’s defense had offered that he plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. ![]() They thanked prosecutors for their work, but in the end, they said, they got another blow. Multiple family members called Cruz a “monster” and talked about the years they waited for justice. In a case like this, “where you’re massacring those students with premeditation in utter disregard for basic humanity … I just don’t think anything else is appropriate except a capital sentence,” DeSantis said. Ron DeSantis said it “stings” that Cruz did not receive the death penalty. “The last thing my son saw was the gunman aiming at him,” he said.įlorida Gov. “He planned it for months.”Īs he spoke to the media, Schulman held up a laptop with an image of Cruz in the school hallway with a gun. He hunted all of these people,” Schulman said. Michael Schulman, the stepfather of teacher Scott Beigel, said the decision gives anyone a license to kill, then claim mental illness as a defense. Many shook their heads, looked angry or covered their eyes as the judge spent 50 minutes reading the jury’s decision for each victim. Rumblings grew from the family section - packed with about three dozen parents, spouses and other relatives of the victims - as it became apparent the jury was not going to recommend the death penalty. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak.Ĭruz, his hair unkempt, largely sat hunched over and stared at the table as the jury’s decisions were read. In the end, the jury could not agree that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones, so Cruz will get life without parole.Ĭircuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will formally issue the life sentences Nov. ![]() The jury found there were aggravating factors to warrant the death penalty for each victim, such as agreeing that the murders were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.” But one or more jurors also found mitigating factors, such as untreated issues he had as a child. Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count. I am so beyond disappointed and frustrated with this outcome. … I sent my daughter to school and she was shot eight times. “This should have been the death penalty, 100%.
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