Parkland shooting

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 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.

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.

Jurors on Thursday recommended life in prison without parole for Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting that has gone to trial in the United States, according to the Associated Press. McNeill urged jurors to consider Cruz’s history of mental illness in rendering their decision, and argued that Cruz should be given a life sentence instead of the death penalty. “It is the right thing to do,” McNeill said of a life sentence. During that hearing, survivors of the shooting will get a chance to share their views on the verdict. [Jurors recommend life sentence for Nikolas Cruz] [Jurors' decision comes more than four years after the Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland, Florida — the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak at the sentencing hearing. She tapped the screen each time it went dark, looking at him as she awaited the verdict. "This should have been the death penalty, 100%," said Alyssa's mother, Lori Alhadeff. I'm disgusted with the system," he said. The 12-person jury came to a decision after seven hours of deliberations over two days, ending a three-month trial where stories of the victims' execution were retold in graphic detail. The eventual verdict was worse.] Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Cruz.

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.

The jury foreman said three of the jurors ultimately voted for life in prison, with one of them being a "hard no" on the death penalty and another two ...

And that's due in part to the change of law and also just the change in society. That's why we now have the unanimous verdict in Florida in death penalty." It shows you how hard it is to actually send somebody death here in the state of Florida now. "We can disagree with it. It is a moral decision on their own; some of the jurors just felt that way." Trocino said he closely followed the sentencing trial over the months, and the jurors weighed what made the mass shooting worse versus what tempered it, known as aggravating factors and mitigating factors. "The last thing my son saw was the gunman aiming at him," he said. And that’s how we voted," he said. "He planned it for months." "We need justice." What is the purpose of it? This is insane," Chen Wang, cousin of shooting victim Peter Wang, said at a news conference after the jury’s decision was read.

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.”

The motion calls for law enforcement to interview the unnamed juror after she told the state attorney's office about what “she perceived to be a threat from ...

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 filed a motion Thursday asking the court to authorize law enforcement to interview a juror in the Parkland case who called them to say she was ...

“I didn’t vote that way, so I’m not happy with how it worked out, but everybody has the right to decide for themselves,” he said. The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.” Thursday and requested to speak with Assistant State Attorney Michael Satz, who led the prosecution team in the case. [Foreman Benjamin Thomas](https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/10/13/parkland-trial-jurors-answer-questions-following-decision-not-to-execute-confessed-gunman/), a gun owner who works in IT, said he voted for the death penalty. [they returned a life in prison verdict ](https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/10/13/day-2-of-verdict-watch-jurors-wait-to-view-parkland-school-shooters-rifle-after-bso-denial/)for the Parkland school shooter. [handwritten letter from juror number 12 was received by the court.](https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/10/13/parkland-school-shooter-verdict-jurors-letter-to-judge-reveals-tense-deliberations/) She recounted a conversation she had with juror 8 in the courthouse parking lot.