() — Gina Montalto’s parents did nothing but hold hands and cry when it was announced Thursday that a Florida jury had recommended that the Parkland school shooter not be sentenced to death.
Tony Montalto, Gina’s father and president of the advocacy group Stand with Parkland, called it “another cheap shot for so many of us who devastatingly lost loved ones on that tragic Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.”
“Seventeen beautiful lives were cut short, by murder, and the monster that killed them will live to see another day,” Montalto said in a statement, sharing the sentiment of other family members who bowed or shook their heads in disbelief at the decision.
Gina Montalto’s parents held hands as they heard the jury’s recommendation in the case of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz.
“While this ruling does not punish the perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law, it will not stop our mission to effect positive change at the federal, state and local levels to prevent school shooting tragedies from tearing apart other American families.”
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer is expected to sentence the shooter Nov. 1; she cannot deviate from the jury’s recommendation of life in prison without parole.
The month-long trial into the attacker’s fate culminated in the jury’s conclusion that the aggravating factors presented by state prosecutors did not outweigh the mitigating circumstances, or aspects of the attacker’s life and upbringing that defense attorneys argued. that warranted only a life sentence.
“It’s quite unreal that no one has paid attention to the facts of this case, that no one can remember who the victim is and what she looks like,” Montalto told reporters Thursday. “I see my beautiful daughter’s face around our house, in my dreams. And she misses her so much.”
Montalto was not the only one.
Debra Hixon, widow of Chris Hixon, 49, said the decision notes that the shooter’s life “meant more than the 17 who were killed … and the thousands of people in that school and that community who are terrified and traumatized.” every day”.
“How can you say, ‘Yeah, it’s cruel, it was heinous, it was planned and we all agree on that, but oh, he could have had a mental illness or had a troubled childhood,'” he said.
The parents of 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, who was among 17 people killed in the February 2018 Parkland massacre, said they were “disgusted”.
Ilan Alhadeff said his family was “beyond disappointed with the outcome”.
Alhadeff and his wife, Lori, questioned the purpose of the death penalty in the Florida legal system if not for the case of the attacker of a mass shooting at a school.
“I am outraged at our legal system,” Alhadeff said, visibly angry, outside court. “I’m outraged at those jurors.”
Fred Guttenberg, the father of 14-year-old victim Jaime Guttenberg, lamented that the jury’s decision “only makes it more likely that the next mass shooting will be attempted.”
“This jury has failed our families today,” he said.
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Vickie Cartwright said via Twitter that mental health professionals will be available in schools to help students and staff affected by the decision.
Broward County State’s Attorney Harold Pryor said he hoped the sentencing recommendation would bring “some measure of finality and justice to this terrible chapter.”
“To my knowledge, this is the first time that the full story of the loss of the community and all the relevant facts about a mass shooting of this magnitude have been told,” he said. “We have not shied away from telling all the horror, all the loss, all the devastation, all the pain about this case.”
Public defender Gordon Weekes urged the community to respect the jury’s final verdict.
“This day is not a day of celebration, but a day of solemn (recognition), and a solemn opportunity to reflect on the healing that is necessary for this community,” he told reporters.
Weekes declined to comment when asked about Cruz’s reaction.
However, the parents of geography teacher Scott Beigel, who was killed while helping students to safety, could not contain their anger.
“It’s anger over the sentence,” Linda Beigel Schulman said.
Scott’s father, Michael, chimed in: “It’s anger at the system.”
“If this was not the most perfect case of the death penalty, then why do we have the death penalty at all?” Linda Beigel Schulman said. “There is no doubt that the verdict should have been the death penalty.”
The mother of Helena Ramsay, a 17-year-old Marjory Stoneman student who was killed, said the jury got the verdict wrong and wondered what kind of country allows “weapons of war on the streets.”
“What kind of people are we?”
— Devon M Sayers and Alta Spells contributed reporting.
