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Nicolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole after a jury could not unanimously agree that he should be executed.
The jury’s recommendations came after seven hours of deliberation over two days, ending the three-month trial, and included graphic videos, photos and testimonies of the massacre, heartbreaking testimony from the victims’ families and tours. The building still splattered with blood.
Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will formally pronounce the sentence later.
Cruz, with tousled hair, spent most of his time hunched over the table as he read the jury’s recommendations.
As the life sentences were announced, the rumble grew louder in the family section – about three dozen parents, spouses and other relatives of the victims. Many shook their heads, looked angry or covered their eyes.
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty a year ago to murdering 14 students and three staff and injuring 17 others on February 14, 2018.
Cruz said he chose Valentine’s Day so Stoneman Douglas students would never be able to celebrate the holiday again.
Attorney General Mike Satz kept his case simple for a jury of seven men and five women. He focused on Cruz’s eight-month plan, the seven minutes he spent lingering in the lobby of the three-story school building, firing 140 rounds from an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, and his escape.
Cruz’s lead attorney, Melissa McNeill, and her team never questioned the horror he caused, focusing instead on their belief that his biological mother, who drank heavily during pregnancy, caused him to suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
His bizarre, disturbing and sometimes violent behaviour from the age of two was misdiagnosed as ADHD, meaning he was never properly treated, their experts said. They said it overwhelmed his widowed adoptive mother.
The defense shortened their case, calling only about 25 of the 80 witnesses they said would testify. They never mentioned Cruz’s high school days or called his half-brother Zachary, whom they accused of bullying.
In a rebuttal, Mr. Satz and his team argued that Cruz did not suffer from fetal alcohol damage, but instead suffered from antisocial personality disorder — a sociopath, in colloquial terms.
Their witnesses said Cruz faked brain damage during the test and that he was able to control his behavior, but he chose not to. For example, they pointed out that he worked as a cashier at a discount store and he never had any disciplinary problems.
Prosecutors also played extensive footage of Cruz discussing the crime with their mental health expert, who spoke about his plans and motives.
During cross-examination, the defense accused Cruz of being sexually harassed and raped by a 12-year-old neighbor when he was nine.
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