Killing in a Florida high school Life imprisonment for the

Killing in a Florida high school: Life imprisonment for the killer, confronted with the victims’ families

justice has spoken. The author of 17 murders with semi-automatic rifles at his former high school in Parkland north of Miami, Fla. in 2018 was formally sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Nikolas Cruz, 24, escaped the death penalty last month after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision in favor of that conviction – which startled several victims’ relatives.

Weeping families of victims held hands as Judge Elizabeth Scherer announced the 17 murder convictions, declaring after each victim’s name: “The court imposes a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.”

Relatives of the victims outraged

During the two-day hearing, which ended with Wednesday’s sentencing, the parents were allowed to express their grief and anger by addressing the accused directly, which they were not allowed to do in court. “My hope (…) is that the pain of what you did to my family consumes and traumatizes you every day,” said Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed, according to comments collected by public broadcaster NPR became .

In undisguised anger, several attacked the justice system for sparing the life of the defendant, who was twenty feet from their desk. “The idea that you can live every day as a cold-blooded killer, eat your meals, and rest at night seems utterly unfair,” Stacey Lippel, a teacher injured in the shooting, said, according to CBS News. “The only consolation I have is that your life in prison will be filled with terror and fear. »

On February 14, 2018, then 17-year-old Nikolas Cruz caused fear by opening fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, from which he had been expelled a year earlier. In less than ten minutes he had killed 14 students and three adults and injured 17 others. In October 2021, he pled guilty to murder and attempted murder.