US: Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz sentenced to life in prison
Oct 13, 2022
Florida [US], October 13 : A Florida jury has recommended a life in-prison sentence to Nikolas Cruz for the February 2018 massacre at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday without the possibility of parole.
The decision came after a months-long trial to decide Nikolas Cruz's fate and is not an official sentence, CNN reported.
However, Judge Elizabeth Scherer is expected to issue the gunman's proper sentence on November 1.
According to CNN, the families of the gunman's victims bowed their heads as the verdict forms for each of the 17 people he killed were read in court Thursday morning.
The Parkland shooting accused, now 24, pleaded guilty last October to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder for the shooting.
14 students were killed in the incident and three school staff members were killed, and several others were injured.
The shooter's defence attorney defended Cruz and said that he had neurodevelopmental disorders stemming from prenatal alcohol exposure, claiming his birth mother had used drugs and drank alcohol while pregnant with him, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, several school walkouts were cancelled districtwide in Marion County after the shooting.
On February 14, 2018, at least 17 people - children and adults - were killed in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Several people, primarily students across the United States also held a "March for Our Lives" rally pressing for stricter gun control measures after the attack.
