A Florida judge is scheduled to formally sentence to life on Wednesday Nikolas Cruz, the man who killed 17 students and a staffer with a semiautomatic rifle at a Parkland school.
A jury in October ruled that 24yearold Cruz should be spared the death penalty, preferring life in prison without the possibility of parole for one of the deadliest massacres in US history.
Cruz pleaded guilty to first degree murder in 2021 and then faced a threemonth trial.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer agreed to a prosecutor’s request to allow relatives of Cruz’s targets to speak to the court first before sentencing. The criminal proceedings began on Tuesday (1st) with the statements of the victims.
Several family members have criticized the jury’s decision and a state law that requires the unanimity of all 12 jurors to sentence a person sentenced to death. Some relatives also rebuked Cruz’s defense attorneys, who unsuccessfully objected to the judge on Tuesday, citing that Cruz has a constitutional right to legal representation.
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