NIKOLAS Cruz, who murdered 17 students and staff with a semi-automatic rifle at a Florida high school, was formally sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after listening to hours of anguished testimony from survivors and victims' relatives.
A jury voted last month to spare Cruz, 24, the death penalty, instead choosing life in prison without possibility of parole for one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder for his rampage on Feb. 14, 2018, then faced the three-month penalty trial earlier this year.
Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer agreed to a prosecution request to first allow relatives of Cruz's victims to address the court before the sentence was handed down. The sentencing proceedings began on Tuesday with victim impact statements.
Many victims' relatives castigated the jury's decision and criticized a state law requirement that all 12 jurors be unanimous in order to sentence a convicted person to be executed.
"How much worse would the crime have to be to warrant the death penalty?" said Annika Dworet, the mother of 17-year-old victim Nicholas Dworet.
Some relatives also chided Cruz's defense lawyers, who fruitlessly objected to the judge about the criticism of them and the jurors on Tuesday, noting that Cruz had a constitutional right to legal representation.
Many victims' relatives directly addressed Cruz, who sat inscrutable behind large spectacles and a COVID-19 mask at a table alongside his public defenders, wearing red prison overalls and handcuffs. He removed his mask when the mother of one of his victims told him keeping it on was disrespectful
Anne Ramsay, the mother of 17-year-old Helena Ramsay, told him he was "pure evil;" Inez Hixon called him a "domestic terrorist" for killing her father-in-law, school athletics director Chris Hixon.
Cruz was 19 at the time of his attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 30 miles (50 km) north of the courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. He had been expelled from the school.
Some of the survivors went on to organize a youth-led movement for tighter gun regulations in the United States, which has the highest rate of private gun ownership in the world and where mass shootings have become recurrent.
Cruz spoke only briefly at the hearing, answering the judge's questions about whether he understood the proceedings.
Samantha Fuentes, who Cruz shot in the leg, asked Cruz if he remembered making eye contact with her when she lay bleeding in her classroom.
"You are a hateful bigot with an AR-15 and a god complex," she said. "Without your stupid gun, you are nothing."
Victoria Gonzalez, whose boyfriend 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver was among those Cruz killed, told Cruz they were in the same class together.
"I'm sorry that you never saw the love that the world is capable of giving," she told Cruz. "My justice does not lie in knowing if you live or if you die. My justice lives in knowing that I experienced a love that a lot of people go their whole lifetimes without experiencing."
Reuters
Thu Nov 03 2022
![Florida school mass shooter sentenced to life in prison Florida school mass shooter sentenced to life in prison](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2022-11/61667445898_NikolasCruz.jpg)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defence table during victim impact statements in the sentencing hearing in Cruz's trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, U.S. - REUTERS
![Kim Pan-gon akan ke Ulsan Hyundai? Kim Pan-gon akan ke Ulsan Hyundai?](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721117483_KimPangon.jpg)
Kim Pan-gon akan ke Ulsan Hyundai?
Bekas pengendali skuad negara itu dilaporkan sedang menjadi calon utama untuk mengisi jawatan pengurus kelab gergasi Korea Selatan, Ulsan Hyundai.
![Lebih 2,300 hektar kawasan lapang di ibu negara diperuntukkan kawasan hijau Lebih 2,300 hektar kawasan lapang di ibu negara diperuntukkan kawasan hijau](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2016-12/41482504881_TamanTasikTitiwang.jpg)
Lebih 2,300 hektar kawasan lapang di ibu negara diperuntukkan kawasan hijau
Daripada keluasan itu, sebanyak 977.55 hektar tanah telah diwartakan, manakala 1,416.24 hektar tanah lapang yang berpotensi akan dan sedang dalam proses diwartakan.
Guna jawatan untuk projek pembekalan, suami isteri ditahan
Sepasang suami isteri direman enam hari dalam siasatan penyalahgunaan jawatan untuk mendapatkan projek pembekalan bernilai lebih RM200,000.
Perintah reman dikeluarkan Majistret Noor Mazrinie Mahmood bermula hari ini hingga Ahad.
Perintah reman dikeluarkan Majistret Noor Mazrinie Mahmood bermula hari ini hingga Ahad.
DBKL ubah lalu lintas Jalan Sultan Ismail bermula 22 Julai
Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) akan melaksanakan perubahan lalu lintas di Jalan Sultan Ismail berkuat kuasa 22 Julai ini.
![ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, kenapa tak umum tahun lepas? - MP Kampar ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, kenapa tak umum tahun lepas? - MP Kampar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61721116604_ChongZheminDewan.jpg)
ADUN Rembia sertai Pas, kenapa tak umum tahun lepas? - MP Kampar
Tindakan tersebut seolah-olah satu penghinaan paling besar kepada Parlimen yang telah meluluskan pindaan Perlembagaan Persekutuan berkait Akta Antilompat Parti.
[TERKINI] Perbelanjaan pengguna Malaysia dijangka kembali teguh
Perbelanjaan pengguna Malaysia dijangka teguh sepanjang tahun ini, demikian menurut BMI, iaitu syarikat Fitch Solitions.
![Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81721102947_suspekbunuhNurFar.jpg)
Kes bunuh Nur Farah Kartini: Suspek berkhidmat 5 tahun dalam PDRM
Anggota berusia 26 tahun terbabit bertugas di Balai Polis Slim River di bawah Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) Muallim dengan pangkat lans koperal.
![Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721117052_SaifulNizamSaharud.jpg)
Perunding pelaburan didakwa terlibat pengubahan wang haram hampir RM1 juta
Seorang perunding pelaburan mengaku tidak bersalah atas empat pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram berjumlah hampir RM1 juta.
Purata suhu meningkat 0.24 darjah celcius per dekad
Berdasarkan rekod dari tahun 1969 hingga 2019, purata suhu bulanan di Semenanjung Malaysia pada bulan Mei 2024 adalah 28.8 darjah celcius manakala purata suhu bulanan pada bulan Mei 1974 iaitu 50 tahun yang lalu adalah 26.6 darjah celcius.
ADUN dari kerajaan perpaduan sertai Pas
Menurut Takiyuddin, keahlian Muhamad Jailani yang juga wakil rakyat UMNO diterima pada 10 Jun tahun lalu, namun diumumkan secara rasmi hari ini.
![Anda semua akan mati!' - Suspek tembakan rambang sekolah Florida Anda semua akan mati!' - Suspek tembakan rambang sekolah Florida](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2018-05/51527723828_NikolasCruz.jpg)
"Anda semua akan mati!' - Suspek tembakan rambang sekolah Florida
Dalam satu siri video, Nikolas Cruz bercakap mengenai kesepiannya, kemarahan dan kebencian, dan mengumumkan bahawa "hari pembunuhan akan bermula."
![Remaja bunuh rakan sekolah, mahu derma semua harta Remaja bunuh rakan sekolah, mahu derma semua harta](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2018-04/61523508179_NikolasCruz.jpg)
Remaja bunuh rakan sekolah, mahu derma semua harta
Nikolas Cruz mahu mendermakan hartanya yang dipercayai bernilai ratusan ribu dolar kepada keluarga mangsa dan mereka yang terselamat dalam serangan itu.
![Kes tembakan rambang: Bendera di Florida dikibar separuh tiang Kes tembakan rambang: Bendera di Florida dikibar separuh tiang](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2018-02/71518682402_TBFLORIDASHOOTING.jpg)
Kes tembakan rambang: Bendera di Florida dikibar separuh tiang
Pihak berkuasa Florida mengarahkan agar bendera dikibar separuh tiang bagi memberi penghormatan kepada mangsa tembakan di Sekolah Tinggi Marjory Stoneman Douglas yang mengorbankan 17 orang.
![Florida high school gunman due in court, charged with 17 murder counts Florida high school gunman due in court, charged with 17 murder counts](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2018-02/71518706510_FLORIDASHOOTING.jpg)
Florida high school gunman due in court, charged with 17 murder counts
Nikolas Cruz, due in court Thursday, is expected to be charged with 17 counts of murder for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.