OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:50 AM PT – Thursday, October 13, 2022
The jury weighing the fate of the Parkland shooter has reached a verdict.
On Thursday, the group announced that they had come to an agreement over the sentencing for the man convicted of killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
Their consensus came just 15 minutes into their second day of deliberation. The 12-person jury recommended that Nikolas Cruz be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors asked for the death penalty. The defense sought life in prison.
Many families of the 17 victims were upset with the outcome. Victim Alex Schachter’s, 14, father shared his thoughts on Twitter.
Lori Alhadeff, the mother of victim Alyssa Alhadeff, shared her thoughts following the announcement.
“We are beyond disappointed with the outcome today,” she said. “This should have been the death penalty 100%.”
According to Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) the jury’s recommendation for the death sentence was 11-1. In order for Cruz to be sentenced to death, the decision among the jury had to be unanimous.
“I just don’t think anything else is appropriate except a capital sentence in this case,” DeSantis said. “And so I was very disappointed to see that.”
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