Jurors have determined that Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison for the 2018 Florida mass shooting that killed 17 people.
Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.
The prosecution during the three-month sentencing trial had argued Cruz’s crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence.
Cruz’s defense team had acknowledged the severity of his crimes, but asked jurors to consider mitigating factors including lifelong mental health disorders resulting from his biological mother’s substance abuse during pregnancy.
Under Florida law, a death sentence could only have been handed down if jurors had unanimously recommended he be executed. The only other option…
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