sun sentinel un redacted report on nicholas cruz

#Sun sentinel un redacted report on nicholas cruz trial

He said the decision means Cruz will likely be protected while in custody, be able to “read, draw, receive phone calls & mail,” while “his 17 victims suffered in fear” before he killed them.

“Life in prison is NOT punishment! That is exactly what he wanted,” Max Schachter, the father of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, who was murdered in the massacre, wrote on Twitter. The agreement resolves 52 of 53 lawsuits filed by families against the district for negligence in the wake of the shooting, David Brill, a lawyer for the families, told the Sun Sentinel.Īnthony Borges, a former student who was shot several times, will continue to pursue his own lawsuit, the newspaper reported.Here’s what we know: Nikolas Cruz, the now 24-year-old who admitted to killing 17 people in Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018, has avoided the death penalty.Ī jury on Thursday recommended he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a decision which enraged many of the victims’ families who said Cruz being allowed to live is not justice served. Hearings are scheduled throughout November and December, with a goal to start testimony in January.įamilies of the shooting victims agreed to a $25m settlement with the Broward County school district, the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper reported on October 18. Given the case’s notoriety, Judge Scherer plans to screen thousands of prospective jurors.

#Sun sentinel un redacted report on nicholas cruz trial

The defence is expected to argue during the penalty trial that Cruz now has taken responsibility for his actions. Cruz’s chief prosecutor, Broward State Attorney Mike Satz has said Cruz deserves the death sentence.Ĭruz’s defence lawyers had previously offered a guilty plea in exchange for a life sentence, but that was rejected by state authorities. Whether Cruz should receive the death penalty or life in prison will be determined in a penalty trial by jury. My daughter despised bullies and would put herself in the middle of someone being bullied to make it stop.” “My daughter always fought for what was right. “She was the toughest, wisest person I ever knew,” Guttenberg said. Several parents and other relatives of victims broke down in tears while listening to the court proceedings via a video conference.Ĭruz, who was 19 at the time of the attack, now faces a potential capital punishment, or life in prison to be determined in an upcoming penalty trial.Ĭruz killed the 14 students and three staff members on Valentine’s Day in 2018 during a seven-minute rampage with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle through the classrooms and hallways of a three-storey school building.Ĭruz had been expelled from Stoneman Douglas a year earlier after a history of threatening and violent behaviour that dated back to preschool.įred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime died in the shooting, said he visited her grave this week to ask her for the strength to get through Wednesday’s hearing. In court on Wednesday, several parents shook their heads as Cruz apologised, saying, “I’m very sorry for what I did … I can’t live with myself sometimes.” He said he wished it was up to the survivors to determine whether he lived or died. Survivors formed “March for Our Lives”, a gun safety advocacy for stronger background checks and a ban on the AR-15 type of assault-style rifle that Cruz used in the assault. The incident has become a landmark in the continuing political fight in the US over gun control. He was charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder for those wounded in the February 14, 2018, attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 A year on, Parkland shooting victims remembered list 2 of 4 Parkland suicides put spotlight on US shooting survivors’ lives list 3 of 4 Florida teachers can arm themselves under new gun bill list 4 of 4 2 dead, several injured in California school shooting end of list