Parkland school killer formally sentenced to life in prison
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. • Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz formally received a sentence of life without parole Wednesday after families of his 17 slain victims spent two days berating him as evil, a coward, a monster and a subhuman.
Cruz, shackled and in a red jail jumpsuit, watched Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer as she pronounced 34 consecutive life sentences — one each for the slain and the 17 he wounded — for the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in suburban Fort Lauderdale.
The judge’s voice broke as she read the first of the sentences, but her voice gained strength and volume she moved down the list. Cruz showed no emotion as she spoke. Scherer had no other choice; the jury in Cruz’s three-month penalty trial voted 9-3 on Oct. 13 to sentence him to death, but Florida law requires unanimity for that sentence to be imposed. The sentencing came after two days’ worth of parents, wives, siblings and other relatives of slain victims and some of the surviving wounded walking to a lectern 20 feet to address him face to face.
The judge commended the families and wounded who testified, calling them strong, graceful and patient.
“I know you are going to be OK, because you have each other,” Scherer said.
Some parents and other family members wept as she read. When she finished and Cruz was led from the courtroom, one father muttered “Good riddance.”
Cruz, 24, will be taken within days to the Florida prison system’s processing center before he is assigned to a maximum-security prison. Families and the wounded spent two days verbally thrashing Cruz .
“Real justice would be done if every family here were given a bullet and your AR-15 and we got to pick straws, and each one of us got to shoot one at a time at you, making sure that you felt every bit of it, and your fear continued to mount until the last family member who pulled that last straw had the privilege of making sure that they killed you,” said Linda Beigel Schulman, mother of slain teacher Scott Beigel.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is seated at the defense table Wednesday for a sentencing hearing at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
