A jury in Florida recommended that the man who killed 17 people at a high school be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The person who killed 17 people at a high school in Florida will be sentenced to death.
The jury found that Cruz created a great risk of death to many people, that the shooting was cruel and cold, and that those factors were not enough to justify the death penalty.
The decision was made on the second day of deliberations, after a three-month trial where dozens of former students and teachers testified on the harrowing moments in February, 2018, when Cruz killed 17 students and teachers.
The defense argued that Cruz should not be sentenced to death because he has shown signs of remorse four and a half years after the shooting.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to life in jail.
A provision of Florida state law requires Cruz's family to be heard before the judge sentences him.
Cruz walked into the school with a semi-automatic military-style rifle and opened fire, killing 17 people. Police officers confronted him after he confessed to the murder. Cruz could have been planning the shooting for months according to social media posts and journal entries. A video was published by a user who said he would be a professional school shooter. The trial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, opened in July, nine months after Cruz pleaded guilty, with former teachers and students, including some who were injured in the attack, testifying.
Cruz waspoisoned by his mother's alcohol consumption and drug use while she was pregnant with him, and that he suffers undiagnosed neurological disorders as a result, according to the closing argument. She asked the jury if brain damaged, mentally ill, broken people should be killed.
The victims of the Parkland shooting gave testimony at the sentencing trial.
The prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the school shooter.
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