Jury recommends life without parole for Nikolas Cruz

A Florida jury recommended Thursday that the man who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in connection to the shooting. The jury had to decide whether to recommend Cruz be sentenced to death or jailed for life without the possibility of parole for each of the 17 counts.

Here's what you need to know:

About the trial: Prosecutors and defense attorneys present evidence of aggravating factors and mitigating circumstances — reasons Cruz should or should not be put to death. The state argued the killings were especially heinous and calculated. It presented evidence showing the gunman spent months searching online for information about mass shootings and left behind social media comments sharing his expressed desire to “kill people.”

The public defenders asked the jury to spare his life, based on his troubled history, from being raised in a dysfunctional family to serious mental and developmental issues.

The jury's recommendation: The jury recommended life in prison on all counts soon after they began their second day of deliberations. On each count, the jury found Cruz eligible for the death penalty based on aggravating circumstances – but did not unanimously find that those aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors. Benjamin Thomas, the foreperson, told CNN affiliate WFOR that three jurors voted against the death penalty.

Family reaction: All the family members who spoke to the media were furious about the verdict.

• The parents of 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, said they were “disgusted” with the decision to recommend life in prison. Ilan Alhadeff said his family was “beyond disappointed with the outcome."
• Fred Guttenberg, the father of 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg, said the Parkland massacre victims’ families were robbed of justice.
• The family of another 15-year-old victim Peter Wang says they are shocked at the decision. "This monster killed 17 people, how can he live another day?,” Wang's cousin Lin Chen said.
• "If not now the death penalty, then when?" said Patricia Oliver, whose son was killed in the shooting.

What's next: Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer set the sentencing date for Nov. 1. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. ET.

Victims and family members are expected to speak before the sentence is delivered. Under Florida law, Judge Scherer cannot depart from the jury’s recommendation of life. 

Benjamin Thomas, the foreperson for the jury that recommended the Parkland school shooter be sentenced to life in prison, told CNN affiliate WFOR that three jurors voted against the death penalty.

“There was one with a hard 'no,' she couldn't do it, and there was another two that ended up voting the same way,” said Thomas.

“(The hard no) didn't believe because he was mentally ill he should get the death penalty.”

About the jury's decision: Nikolas Cruz avoided the death penalty after the jury recommended life without the possibility of parole on all counts against him on Thursday.

The jury returned identical answers on aggravating and mitigating circumstances for each of the 17 counts and the same findings and recommendation for every victim.

On each count, the jury found Cruz eligible for the death penalty based on aggravating circumstances – but did not unanimously find that those aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors.

We don’t know which exactly mitigating factors were in play in those discussions – but we do know which mitigating factors on Cruz’s life were presented at trial. The 41 factors were listed in the jury instructions and included factors such as "Nikolas Cruz was exposed to drugs in utero," "Medicated throughout his childhood," "Nikolas Cruz witnessed the death of his father," "Nikolas Cruz has remorse" and "Nikolas Cruz pled guilty and accepted responsibility for his crimes."

The father of 14-year-old Parkland school shooting victim Alex Schachter said he and his wife were shocked and devastated that the shooter Nikolas Cruz avoided the death penalty following the jury's decision on Thursday.

"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 said, adding that the family thought Cruz would get the death penalty. "It's so upsetting."

"It's just unbelievable, we're shocked and we're devastated," he added. "It's just a travesty of justice."

The father of a 14-year-old victim in the Parkland massacre was critical of the jury's decision to recommend life without the possibility of parole for the shooter.

Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina was killed in the shooting, told reporters outside court that for a juror to decide to recommend a life sentence, they "either didn't understand the facts in this case, or [were] dishonest with themselves when they signed up to become a juror, and would never have voted for the death penalty."

Petty said the state's attorneys did everything they needed to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the death penalty was warranted.

"You cannot look at the facts of this case, look at the cruel and inhumane way the 17 victims were treated — that he went back and shot again those that were already down on the ground, I've seen the video" and conclude otherwise, Petty said.

Petty, who serves on the state State Board of Education, was also critical of the shooter's defense. "The lack of empathy, and humanity shown to our families by this defense team — it's indefensible," he said.

Family members say 14-year-old Alaina Petty had been active in her church's volunteer trips and the school's ROTC program.

"The most important thing is for the world to know that my sister, Alaina, and the 16 others that were killed — they were beautiful people," Alaina's brother, who stood beside Ryan Petty as he spoke, added. "It leaves me with anger, sadness and emptiness to know that, you know, none of us will ever get to see them here again."

You can read about all of the Parkland school shooting victims here.

After a Florida jury recommended life without the possibility of parole on all counts against Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, public defender Gordon Weekes said it's important to respect the jury's decision.

"It's important that we as a community respect the jury's verdict and recognize that the jury's verdict is final," he said Thursday at a press conference.

"This day is not a day of celebration, but a day of solemn acknowledgement, and a solemn opportunity to reflect on the healing that is necessary for this community — the healing of the trauma that occurred on Valentine's Day, February the 14th, the healing of the loss of the families."

He defended Cruz's attorney, saying the team "appreciates, respects and understands" the loss of the victims' families.

"With the greatest bit of sympathy, we attempted to prepare this case and present this case in the most professional and legal manner as we could," he said.

Weekes declined to comment when he was asked if Cruz had a reaction to the decision today.

Parkland school shooting victim Joaquin Oliver's family expressed shock and disgust after shooter Nikolas Cruz avoided the death penalty as a jury recommended life without the possibility of parole on all counts against him.

Oliver's mother, Patricia, said the family was not expecting this decision and added that the families of victims and the entire community of Parkland and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are suffering.

She asked why the shooter's massacre that left 17 dead and inflicted trauma on the community does not deserve the death penalty.

"We are in a state where the death penalty is an option," she said. "What's that for? That's my question."

She added that she wants to reconcile with this post-decision reality and not let the shooter take more of their lives away from them.

"Now, we gotta keep going, and we gotta keep living. And we have to work our best to find our peace. We don't want to let the defendant take more from us than he's been taking during all this time," she said. "This is something that we have to digest. we need to live with this new reality."

The mother of Helena Ramsay, a 17-year-old Marjory Stoneman senior who was killed in the Parkland massacre, made an impassioned plea for change and condemned the trial's outcome outside court today.

"After spending months and months listening, and hearing testimonies, and looking at the murderer — his composure — I believe justice was not done," Anne Ramsay said. "The wrong verdict was given out today."

Ramsay made a call for national soul-searching — and alluded to policy change for guns and policing.

"President Biden, it's been four years, and I've listened to countless shootings, one after another, traumatizing my family, traumatizing our neighborhood," Ramsay said.
"What kind of people are we?" she later asked.

"There is no excuse in this country to have weapons of war on the streets, and if you do not get that, then something is wrong in this country," Ramsay told reporters.

She also spoke passionately on the law enforcement response to the Parkland shooter and on police shootings of Black people in the US.

"There was one person with a gun on the school premises that day that my daughter died, and he did nothing to go into that building and to tackle that murderer," Ramsay said, referring to the former school resource officer who was criticized in the wake of the massacre for failing to confront the shooter.

"As a Black woman, I have to sit there and listen to Black men being shot multiple times, over and over again," she said. "And this animal killed ... innocent, beautiful kids — and three dedicated teachers — and he got away with it today, as far as I'm concerned."

You can read about all of the Parkland school shooting victims here.

The parents of Marjory Stoneman geography teacher Scott Beigel, who was killed ushering students to safety in the Parkland school shooting, echoed the sentiment of other parents outside court today, saying the gunman should have been sentenced to death.

"If this was not the most perfect death penalty case, then why do we have the death penalty at all?" Linda Beigel Schulman said. "There's no doubt about the fact that the verdict should have been the death penalty."

The mother said the state's attorneys gave a "perfect" execution of the arguments against the gunman.

She stopped short of condemning the jurors personally for their decision to recommend life without the possibility of parole and acknowledged the process was likely traumatizing for them as well.

"It's anger at the sentencing," Linda said, and Scott's father, Michael, interjected: "It's anger at the system."

"Justice was not served today," he added.

You can read about all of the victims here.

The family of 15-year-old Parkland massacre victim Peter Wang says they are "shocked" at the jury's decision in the Parkland school shooting case.

"It's just so unjust," Wang's cousin Lin Chen said. "We thought this was clear. This monster killed 17 people, how can he live another day?"

She spoke of how Wang's mother is traumatized after the shooting.

"My aunt has changed forever ... She cannot function normally. She cannot sleep, the constant insomnia. And we came here, thought that we could get a little comfort for my family but no, they just pushed them further," Chen said.

The families of Parkland shooting victims "have to live knowing the fact that the murderer is in the jail every single day, breathing, eating and getting help by their lawyers," Chen said. "What about the kids? What about the families? This is not about the shooter."