Prosecutors Rest Case for Death Penalty in Parkland School Shooter Trial
Video above – Prosecutors rest case – WARNING: This may contain items that are disturbing to viewers. It is the third week of the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, which began on July 18.It is the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.A jury of seven men and five women were sworn in to decide whether Cruz, 23, should be sentenced to death or get life in prison, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates. When jurors eventually get the case, probably in October or November, they will vote 17 times, once for each of the victims, on whether to recommend capital punishment.For each death sentence, the jury must be unanimous or the sentence for that victim is life. The jurors are told that to vote for death, the prosecution’s aggravating circumstances for that victim must, in their judgment, “outweigh” the defense’s mitigators.WPBF 25 News will stream the trial in this article.Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment. They must be unanimous for Cruz to get the death penalty — if at least one votes for life, that will be Cruz’s sentence.WPBF 25 News will continue to give day-by-day updates throughout the trial. Previous Coverage: Parkland trial a rare, curtailed look at mass shooting goreLive updates Thursday, August 4Nikolas Cruz waived his rights to be a part of the visit to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Thursday morning.Video below: Nikolas Cruz waves rights to go to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High SchoolThe jurors visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which is not considered evidence in the sentencing of Cruz.Prosecutors rested in the case for the death penalty. The sentencing trial will resume when the defense takes the stand on Aug. 22. Video below: Prosecutors rest their caseWednesday, August 3Families continued to give emotional statements.”Gina didn’t come home from school that day. I had pledged to my daughter that I would hold her tight, support her, guide her, teach her, hug her, protect her. And love her with all my heart and soul,” Jennifer Montalto, the mother of Gina Rose Montalto, said. “There’s an empty seat at our table, a bedroom Gina will never return to. We will continue to turn to our front door, wishing for Gina to walk through it.”Max Schacter, father of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, also took to the stand. “It was the last day we would see our sweet little boy, Alex. The last day we would hug Alex, the last day we would kiss Alex. Our family is broken,” Schacter said. A family friend of Cara Marie Loughran recollected the memories she and her daughter made with the Loughrans. “Cara had started Irish dancing again. She had convinced my daughter to try it with her and they both stayed on. Cara was looking forward to performing at the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. My daughter has continued Irish dance to honor Cara’s memory,” Isabel Dalu, a family friend, said.The prosecutors, defense and judge determined the directions that would be given to the jurors for the trip to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Thursday. The viewing of the crime scene does not count as evidence.Video below: Judge gives jurors directions for trip to Marjory Stoneman Douglas The groups argued over what clothing would be worn by jurors, if they would travel in a group or alone, and if they would be able to enter classrooms.In the end, the judge ruled that the jurors would be able to go at their own pace floor-by-floor and enter classrooms that have been discussed in testimonies. Tuesday, August 2Court began with a firearms examiner explaining how an AR-15 is used, the rounds used in the shooting and how the additions made to the gun helped Cruz.Loved ones then continued their statements. The jurors have been told to not allow their statements to be considered as aggravating factors in their decision for the death sentence.Video below: Emotional statements in court The statements were extremely emotional, causing the speakers, people in the court and even defense attorneys to cry. A father of a victim became angry at the devastation of his family. Monday, August 1The first day of the third week was a very emotional day in court.The day started with medical examiners discussing two more victims as their family members became distraught in court.Video below: Family members become emotional during courtWhen court returned, another person took the stand to discuss YouTube searches by Cruz before the shooting.Three videos were then shown of Cruz discussing his plans to kill people. These videos had been released in 2018 after the school shooting, but the context surrounding who the girl he talks about in the video and what led up to them is new.Loved ones were called to the stand to then begin testifying. The mother and girlfriend of Joaquin Oliver were the first to speak. As other loved ones spoke, people throughout the court, including members of the defense team, cried throughout their statements.’This is life now, and it hurts’: Victims’ families give heartbreaking testimony in sentencing trial of Parkland school shooterWeek Two Recap: July 25 – 27During the week, the autopsies of the victims were discussed while the parents were emotional in court, the weapons used in the shooting were revealed and the social media posts from before the shooting were read to the jury. Several key witnesses also spoke.The Uber driver of Nikolas Cruz testified on the stand. She spoke about their car ride.Video below: The driver’s testimonyA Broward County Sheriff’s Office sergeant was shown the Cabella bag used by Nikolas Cruz that was documented as evidence from the day of the shooting. The sergeant was the person who documented the evidence on the day of the shooting. The state handed her the AR-15 and magazines from the crime scene and documented them as evidence.Video below: Broward County Sheriff’s Office sergeant identifies weapons used in Parkland high school shootingThe now former gun store owner who sold the rifle to the Parkland Shooter showed paperwork in court. Michael Morrison said there were no red flags, and the defendant told him, “I go shooting with friends on the weekend and I want my own stuff.”Morrison is the person who sold the AR-15 rifle legally. He discussed the process and his interactions with Cruz, as well as the additions that were made to the gun after it was bought.Video below: Now former gun store owner who sold the rifle Nikolas Cruz gives testimony The jail guard who was attacked by Cruz spoke as a witness and security footage was shown to jurors.Medical examiners discussed autopsy results, causing the families to be emotional.One of the gunshot wounds on a victim shows abrasions which signify that the shots were made at touching or very close contact.The defense motioned to the judge to make a general objection to social media not being used and being redacted if it is used as evidence.The judge ruled that the prosecutors could make the case and social media could be used as evidence.A detective proceeded to read YouTube comments and search history from Nikolas Cruz preceding the school shooting. Video below: Detective reads search history of Nikolas Cruz to the courtProsecutors said Wednesday they plan to end their case next week after the jury visits the building where the massacre occurred. It has been sealed off since shortly after the shooting, and its walls and floors remain blood-stained and bullet-pocked, with rotted Valentine’s Day flowers and deflated balloons strewn about.After a one-week break, the trial will resume in mid-August with a defense case that will focus on Cruz’s life, including his birth mother’s drinking during pregnancy, his long history of emotional and mental problems, his alleged sexual abuse and the deaths of his adopted parents. The prosecution will then get to present a rebuttal case.Week One Recap: July 18 – 22During the first week, opening statements were made, victims of the shooting spoke and the defense made several motions to try to stop evidence and witnesses from being presented.The lead prosecutor began opening statements on July 18 by detailing minute-by-minute how Cruz committed the deadly shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.Video below: Cruz and families react during opening statementThe prosecutor focused on showing Cruz’s malice and intent to cause death and purposeful destruction at the school — reading out posts and videos he had put online days before the shooting.The defense chose not to make opening statements. Videos and 911 tapes replayed the shooting as families and witnesses showed emotions. At one point, families could be heard asking the judge to stop the video. One of the witnesses that took the stand during the week was former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Christopher McKenna. He said he saw Cruz in the stairwell before the shooting and Cruz told him, “Get out of here. Things are gonna get bad.”McKenna then stood up and pointed out Cruz in the courtroom.Video below: The testimony of Christopher McKennaJurors viewed graphic video, compiled from 13 security cameras inside the building, of Cruz killing the 17 people. It was not shown to the gallery, where the parents of many of the victims sat.Prosecutors said it shows Cruz shooting many of his victims at point-blank range, going back to some as they lay wounded on the floor to kill them with a second volley of shots.The jurors stared intently at their video screens. Many held hands to their faces as they viewed the 15-minute recording, which has no sound. Some started squirming. One juror looked at the screen, looked up at Cruz with his eyes wide and then returned to the video.Cruz looked down while the video played and did not appear to watch it.Witnesses from outside the school speak about seeing Cruz at McDonald’s and Subway after the school shooting. Surveillance footage was shown to the jurors and the public.Video below: Some of the footage during trial of Cruz at McDonald’s after the shooting Students who had been shot showed their scars and discussed the long-term effects of the day of the shooting.The defense tried to file several motions stopping evidence from being shown and people from speaking during the week.Court documents from Monday show that the defense filed a motion for the judge to give special instruction to the jurors that Cruz has been given specific medication and any observations of him during court should not affect deliberations. To read the motion, click here.The defense motioned that it is irrelevant for the witnesses to identify who Cruz is in court.When the state and the judge mentioned that Cruz pleaded guilty to doing the crime, the defense said that they never said he didn’t do it, just that it was irrelevant to point him out in court and added that consistent extra information wasn’t necessary to the case.The judge said that because very few of the 44 witnesses had identified Cruz at the time, she will allow it “on a limited basis.” The defense filed a motion trying to stop some witnesses from testifying Thursday, claiming that the state was trying to prove that Cruz was planning who he would come into contact with after leaving the school.The state said all witnesses and interactions are a part of the evidence. The judge denied the motion and ruled the people would testify. The defense also filed a motion asking for surveillance footage to not be used during witness testimony, saying that the testimonies are just fine without the footage and the footage is impacting the families, which is impacting the jurors and causing prejudice against Cruz.The judge stated that the unedited clips of the actual event are a part of the state’s evidence, which there is no limit on.”I do not find there is any unfair prejudice to the defendant,” the judge said before she denied the motion.When asked if this was for all evidence or just for surveillance video, the judge said this was solely for surveillance video, as that was the evidence that has been put before them at this point. The state brought this up again on Friday, and the judge said the defense was saying the same thing over again and her ruling stood. BackgroundJury selectionThe jurors currently on the main panel are two banking executives and two technology workers, a probation officer, a human resources professional and a Walmart store stock supervisor. Also included are a librarian, a medical claims adjuster, a legal assistant, a customs officer and a retired insurance executive. The jury selection was filled with setbacks and possible mistrials over the questioning of possible jurors and COVID-19 cases on the defense. The defense asked to delay the trial because of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead. McNeill’s team argued that the shooting has again raised emotions in Broward County and makes it impossible for Cruz to get a fair trial currently.Many of the possible jurors were not able to hold seats because of the time commitment for the lengthy process.Full Recap: Jury sworn in to sentencing trial for Parkland high school shooterPleading guilty to all chargesCruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the deadly shooting.Legal analysts said Cruz’s plan to plead guilty to all charges in the Parkland shooting — along with the guilty plea in a battery on a jail guard charge — is a calculated move by his attorneys for him to avoid the death penalty.Video below: Cruz pleads guilty in courtBy pleading guilty to killing 17 people and attempting to kill 17 more in 2018, legal experts said Cruz is hoping to convince the jury that he is taking some responsibility for his actions.”He’s trying to save his life, and the only way to do that is to take responsibility and not put all these poor people through a trial,” criminal defense attorney Marc Shiner said. Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the country often take two years to start because of their complexity, but Cruz’s was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extensive legal wrangling.If Cruz is sentenced to death, that will still not be the end of the process. Death sentences in Florida are given automatic priority review by the Florida Supreme Court. Video below: Cruz makes statement to court, families Trial PreparationsTrial preparations were extensive for what was expected to be the biggest murder trial in Broward County history for one of the most infamous crimes in Florida history.Cruz, 23, was arrested about an hour after the attack with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle on Valentine’s Day 2018.Video below: Body camera of arrest of Nikolas Cruz releasedHis lawyers repeatedly offered to plead guilty in return for a guaranteed sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors refused to drop their pursuit of the death penalty.Video below: Cruz interrogation video releasedMuch of the penalty phase is expected to focus on Cruz’s mental condition at the time of the slayings, with prosecutors emphasizing their horrific nature and Cruz’s intensive planning beforehand. Victims of the Parkland school shootingSeventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.Can’t see the graphic? Click here.Settlement with Broward School DistrictThe Broward County School District will pay more than $26 million to the families of the victims.Board members approved the two legal settlements on in December 2021.A total of $25 million will be shared by 51 plaintiffs, including families of the 17 dead as well as students and staff who were injured. Another $1.25 million will be paid in one lump sum to Anthony Borges, who suffered some of the most severe injuries.Video below: Nikolas Cruz outlines shooting plan in video recordingFour years after shootingFor many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.Students and families turned into activists.’I still can’t believe this is my reality’: Parkland parent creates way to track school violence after son is killed in school shootingJim Gard, a math teacher that day, said they were all victims.“These kids that were in the class, just because they weren’t hit doesn’t mean they weren’t hit,” he said.And since that day, so many of those victims have refused to just sit back and do nothing. In the days following the shooting, a movement called March For Our Lives was born.David Hogg was one of the founders.“When we started doing the march, we thought there would be about 90 people that we could get up to D.C.,” Hogg said. “We got near a million.”Video below: Father of Parkland victim hangs banner in view of White House four years after shootingFour years later, March For Our Lives is still going strong with chapters across the country.They’ve helped pass state laws designed to keep guns away from violent offenders. They’ve worked to get more federal funding to control gun violence.’I have to accomplish her dream’: Hunter Pollack changes career path after sister is murdered in Parkland massacreIt’s become a full-time job nobody wants.“We want our job to be done so we can go back to being college students or high school students and young people and young professionals,” Hogg said.When they watched the Parkland shooter plead guilty to the murders he committed, both Hogg and Gard are pleased to see this chapter end.Video below: School safety changes made following Parkland school shootingThey just ask you not to call it closure.“It’s the parents of the kids, the parents who lost their children, I don’t know if there can ever be closure on that,” Gard said. “I know for a lot of the people that I talked to, families that I talked to, there is not closure that can come. There’s nothing that will ever bring their kids back, their siblings back, their best friends back.”Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | InstagramIf you or someone you know needs help with mental health, call 211 or the National Suicide Hotline at 988.This article contains information from The Associated Press.
Video above – Prosecutors rest case – WARNING: This may contain items that are disturbing to viewers.
It is the third week of the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, which began on July 18.
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It is the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.
A jury of seven men and five women were sworn in to decide whether Cruz, 23, should be sentenced to death or get life in prison, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates.
When jurors eventually get the case, probably in October or November, they will vote 17 times, once for each of the victims, on whether to recommend capital punishment.
For each death sentence, the jury must be unanimous or the sentence for that victim is life. The jurors are told that to vote for death, the prosecution’s aggravating circumstances for that victim must, in their judgment, “outweigh” the defense’s mitigators.
WPBF 25 News will stream the trial in this article.
Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment. They must be unanimous for Cruz to get the death penalty — if at least one votes for life, that will be Cruz’s sentence.
WPBF 25 News will continue to give day-by-day updates throughout the trial.
Previous Coverage: Parkland trial a rare, curtailed look at mass shooting gore
Live updates
Thursday, August 4
Nikolas Cruz waived his rights to be a part of the visit to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Thursday morning.
Video below: Nikolas Cruz waves rights to go to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
The jurors visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which is not considered evidence in the sentencing of Cruz.
Prosecutors rested in the case for the death penalty. The sentencing trial will resume when the defense takes the stand on Aug. 22.
Video below: Prosecutors rest their case
Wednesday, August 3
Families continued to give emotional statements.
Max Schacter, father of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, also took to the stand.
“It was the last day we would see our sweet little boy, Alex. The last day we would hug Alex, the last day we would kiss Alex. Our family is broken,” Schacter said.
A family friend of Cara Marie Loughran recollected the memories she and her daughter made with the Loughrans.
“Cara had started Irish dancing again. She had convinced my daughter to try it with her and they both stayed on. Cara was looking forward to performing at the St. Patrick’s Day festivities. My daughter has continued Irish dance to honor Cara’s memory,” Isabel Dalu, a family friend, said.
The prosecutors, defense and judge determined the directions that would be given to the jurors for the trip to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Thursday. The viewing of the crime scene does not count as evidence.
Video below: Judge gives jurors directions for trip to Marjory Stoneman Douglas
The groups argued over what clothing would be worn by jurors, if they would travel in a group or alone, and if they would be able to enter classrooms.
In the end, the judge ruled that the jurors would be able to go at their own pace floor-by-floor and enter classrooms that have been discussed in testimonies.
Tuesday, August 2
Court began with a firearms examiner explaining how an AR-15 is used, the rounds used in the shooting and how the additions made to the gun helped Cruz.
Loved ones then continued their statements. The jurors have been told to not allow their statements to be considered as aggravating factors in their decision for the death sentence.
Video below: Emotional statements in court
The statements were extremely emotional, causing the speakers, people in the court and even defense attorneys to cry. A father of a victim became angry at the devastation of his family.
Monday, August 1
The first day of the third week was a very emotional day in court.
The day started with medical examiners discussing two more victims as their family members became distraught in court.
Video below: Family members become emotional during court
When court returned, another person took the stand to discuss YouTube searches by Cruz before the shooting.
Three videos were then shown of Cruz discussing his plans to kill people. These videos had been released in 2018 after the school shooting, but the context surrounding who the girl he talks about in the video and what led up to them is new.
Loved ones were called to the stand to then begin testifying. The mother and girlfriend of Joaquin Oliver were the first to speak. As other loved ones spoke, people throughout the court, including members of the defense team, cried throughout their statements.
‘This is life now, and it hurts’: Victims’ families give heartbreaking testimony in sentencing trial of Parkland school shooter
Week Two Recap: July 25 – 27
During the week, the autopsies of the victims were discussed while the parents were emotional in court, the weapons used in the shooting were revealed and the social media posts from before the shooting were read to the jury. Several key witnesses also spoke.
The Uber driver of Nikolas Cruz testified on the stand. She spoke about their car ride.
Video below: The driver’s testimony
A Broward County Sheriff’s Office sergeant was shown the Cabella bag used by Nikolas Cruz that was documented as evidence from the day of the shooting. The sergeant was the person who documented the evidence on the day of the shooting. The state handed her the AR-15 and magazines from the crime scene and documented them as evidence.
Video below: Broward County Sheriff’s Office sergeant identifies weapons used in Parkland high school shooting
The now former gun store owner who sold the rifle to the Parkland Shooter showed paperwork in court. Michael Morrison said there were no red flags, and the defendant told him, “I go shooting with friends on the weekend and I want my own stuff.”
Morrison is the person who sold the AR-15 rifle legally. He discussed the process and his interactions with Cruz, as well as the additions that were made to the gun after it was bought.
Video below: Now former gun store owner who sold the rifle Nikolas Cruz gives testimony
The jail guard who was attacked by Cruz spoke as a witness and security footage was shown to jurors.
Medical examiners discussed autopsy results, causing the families to be emotional.
One of the gunshot wounds on a victim shows abrasions which signify that the shots were made at touching or very close contact.
The defense motioned to the judge to make a general objection to social media not being used and being redacted if it is used as evidence.
The judge ruled that the prosecutors could make the case and social media could be used as evidence.
A detective proceeded to read YouTube comments and search history from Nikolas Cruz preceding the school shooting.
Video below: Detective reads search history of Nikolas Cruz to the court
Prosecutors said Wednesday they plan to end their case next week after the jury visits the building where the massacre occurred. It has been sealed off since shortly after the shooting, and its walls and floors remain blood-stained and bullet-pocked, with rotted Valentine’s Day flowers and deflated balloons strewn about.
After a one-week break, the trial will resume in mid-August with a defense case that will focus on Cruz’s life, including his birth mother’s drinking during pregnancy, his long history of emotional and mental problems, his alleged sexual abuse and the deaths of his adopted parents. The prosecution will then get to present a rebuttal case.
Week One Recap: July 18 – 22
During the first week, opening statements were made, victims of the shooting spoke and the defense made several motions to try to stop evidence and witnesses from being presented.
The lead prosecutor began opening statements on July 18 by detailing minute-by-minute how Cruz committed the deadly shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Video below: Cruz and families react during opening statement
The prosecutor focused on showing Cruz’s malice and intent to cause death and purposeful destruction at the school — reading out posts and videos he had put online days before the shooting.
The defense chose not to make opening statements.
Videos and 911 tapes replayed the shooting as families and witnesses showed emotions. At one point, families could be heard asking the judge to stop the video.
One of the witnesses that took the stand during the week was former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Christopher McKenna. He said he saw Cruz in the stairwell before the shooting and Cruz told him, “Get out of here. Things are gonna get bad.”
McKenna then stood up and pointed out Cruz in the courtroom.
Video below: The testimony of Christopher McKenna
Jurors viewed graphic video, compiled from 13 security cameras inside the building, of Cruz killing the 17 people. It was not shown to the gallery, where the parents of many of the victims sat.
Prosecutors said it shows Cruz shooting many of his victims at point-blank range, going back to some as they lay wounded on the floor to kill them with a second volley of shots.
The jurors stared intently at their video screens. Many held hands to their faces as they viewed the 15-minute recording, which has no sound. Some started squirming. One juror looked at the screen, looked up at Cruz with his eyes wide and then returned to the video.
Cruz looked down while the video played and did not appear to watch it.
Witnesses from outside the school speak about seeing Cruz at McDonald’s and Subway after the school shooting. Surveillance footage was shown to the jurors and the public.
Video below: Some of the footage during trial of Cruz at McDonald’s after the shooting
Students who had been shot showed their scars and discussed the long-term effects of the day of the shooting.
The defense tried to file several motions stopping evidence from being shown and people from speaking during the week.
Court documents from Monday show that the defense filed a motion for the judge to give special instruction to the jurors that Cruz has been given specific medication and any observations of him during court should not affect deliberations. To read the motion, click here.
The defense motioned that it is irrelevant for the witnesses to identify who Cruz is in court.
When the state and the judge mentioned that Cruz pleaded guilty to doing the crime, the defense said that they never said he didn’t do it, just that it was irrelevant to point him out in court and added that consistent extra information wasn’t necessary to the case.
The judge said that because very few of the 44 witnesses had identified Cruz at the time, she will allow it “on a limited basis.”
The defense filed a motion trying to stop some witnesses from testifying Thursday, claiming that the state was trying to prove that Cruz was planning who he would come into contact with after leaving the school.
The state said all witnesses and interactions are a part of the evidence. The judge denied the motion and ruled the people would testify.
The defense also filed a motion asking for surveillance footage to not be used during witness testimony, saying that the testimonies are just fine without the footage and the footage is impacting the families, which is impacting the jurors and causing prejudice against Cruz.
The judge stated that the unedited clips of the actual event are a part of the state’s evidence, which there is no limit on.
“I do not find there is any unfair prejudice to the defendant,” the judge said before she denied the motion.
When asked if this was for all evidence or just for surveillance video, the judge said this was solely for surveillance video, as that was the evidence that has been put before them at this point.
The state brought this up again on Friday, and the judge said the defense was saying the same thing over again and her ruling stood.
Background
Jury selection
The jurors currently on the main panel are two banking executives and two technology workers, a probation officer, a human resources professional and a Walmart store stock supervisor. Also included are a librarian, a medical claims adjuster, a legal assistant, a customs officer and a retired insurance executive.
The jury selection was filled with setbacks and possible mistrials over the questioning of possible jurors and COVID-19 cases on the defense.
The defense asked to delay the trial because of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead. McNeill’s team argued that the shooting has again raised emotions in Broward County and makes it impossible for Cruz to get a fair trial currently.
Many of the possible jurors were not able to hold seats because of the time commitment for the lengthy process.
Full Recap: Jury sworn in to sentencing trial for Parkland high school shooter
Pleading guilty to all charges
Cruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the deadly shooting.
Legal analysts said Cruz’s plan to plead guilty to all charges in the Parkland shooting — along with the guilty plea in a battery on a jail guard charge — is a calculated move by his attorneys for him to avoid the death penalty.
Video below: Cruz pleads guilty in court
By pleading guilty to killing 17 people and attempting to kill 17 more in 2018, legal experts said Cruz is hoping to convince the jury that he is taking some responsibility for his actions.
“He’s trying to save his life, and the only way to do that is to take responsibility and not put all these poor people through a trial,” criminal defense attorney Marc Shiner said.
Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the country often take two years to start because of their complexity, but Cruz’s was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extensive legal wrangling.
If Cruz is sentenced to death, that will still not be the end of the process. Death sentences in Florida are given automatic priority review by the Florida Supreme Court.
Video below: Cruz makes statement to court, families
Trial Preparations
Trial preparations were extensive for what was expected to be the biggest murder trial in Broward County history for one of the most infamous crimes in Florida history.
Cruz, 23, was arrested about an hour after the attack with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle on Valentine’s Day 2018.
Video below: Body camera of arrest of Nikolas Cruz released
His lawyers repeatedly offered to plead guilty in return for a guaranteed sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors refused to drop their pursuit of the death penalty.
Video below: Cruz interrogation video released
Much of the penalty phase is expected to focus on Cruz’s mental condition at the time of the slayings, with prosecutors emphasizing their horrific nature and Cruz’s intensive planning beforehand.
Victims of the Parkland school shooting
Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.
Can’t see the graphic? Click here.
Settlement with Broward School District
The Broward County School District will pay more than $26 million to the families of the victims.
Board members approved the two legal settlements on in December 2021.
A total of $25 million will be shared by 51 plaintiffs, including families of the 17 dead as well as students and staff who were injured. Another $1.25 million will be paid in one lump sum to Anthony Borges, who suffered some of the most severe injuries.
Video below: Nikolas Cruz outlines shooting plan in video recording
Four years after shooting
For many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.
Students and families turned into activists.
‘I still can’t believe this is my reality’: Parkland parent creates way to track school violence after son is killed in school shooting
Jim Gard, a math teacher that day, said they were all victims.
“These kids that were in the class, just because they weren’t hit doesn’t mean they weren’t hit,” he said.
And since that day, so many of those victims have refused to just sit back and do nothing. In the days following the shooting, a movement called March For Our Lives was born.
David Hogg was one of the founders.
“When we started doing the march, we thought there would be about 90 people that we could get up to D.C.,” Hogg said. “We got near a million.”
Video below: Father of Parkland victim hangs banner in view of White House four years after shooting
Four years later, March For Our Lives is still going strong with chapters across the country.
They’ve helped pass state laws designed to keep guns away from violent offenders. They’ve worked to get more federal funding to control gun violence.
‘I have to accomplish her dream’: Hunter Pollack changes career path after sister is murdered in Parkland massacre
It’s become a full-time job nobody wants.
“We want our job to be done so we can go back to being college students or high school students and young people and young professionals,” Hogg said.
When they watched the Parkland shooter plead guilty to the murders he committed, both Hogg and Gard are pleased to see this chapter end.
Video below: School safety changes made following Parkland school shooting
They just ask you not to call it closure.
“It’s the parents of the kids, the parents who lost their children, I don’t know if there can ever be closure on that,” Gard said. “I know for a lot of the people that I talked to, families that I talked to, there is not closure that can come. There’s nothing that will ever bring their kids back, their siblings back, their best friends back.”
Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, call 211 or the National Suicide Hotline at 988.
This article contains information from The Associated Press.
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