Florida school shooter to get life in prison for killing 17

Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz to be sentenced to life in prison without parole for 2018 high school killing of 17 people Marjory StonemanDouglas of Parkland, after the jury said Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed.

The jury’s recommendation came after seven hours of deliberations over two days, ending a three-month trial that included graphic videos, photographs and testimonies of the massacre and its aftermath, harrowing testimony from the families of the victims and a tour for the scene of the massacre.

Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will formally issue sentencing at a later date.

Cruz, his hair tousled, sat largely hunched over and stared at the table as the jury’s recommendations were read out. The comments grew from the section designated for relatives, packed with some three dozen parents, spouses and other relatives of the victims, when the life sentence was announced. Many shook their heads, glared at each other, or covered their eyes.

[Con información de The Associated Press]

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