(Observer News) According to CNN and Associated Press, on October 13, local time, a jury of a court in Florida, USA, made a verdict on Nikolas Cruz, the local school shooting murderer: life imprisonment, no parole. This decision saved Cruz, who caused 17 deaths and 17 injuries in 2018, from the death penalty. Many families of the victims felt angry, puzzled and protested.
The judge will announce the official verdict on November 1, but according to Florida law, the judge can’t go against the jury’s suggestion to keep the murderer alive.
The victim’s family cried and hugged each other (video screenshot, the same below)
This is the deadliest mass shooting case in the United States. On February 14th, 2018, 19-year-old Cruz entered a high school in Pacquelin, Broward County with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and fired a total of 140 shots at students and faculty in seven minutes, killing 14 students and 3 staff members, and injuring 17 others. Cruz said that he chose Valentine’s Day to prevent the students of his alma mater from celebrating it again.
Cruz admitted all 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in October last year, so the court skipped the trial stage and went directly to the sentencing stage. However, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic and other reasons, the sentencing was postponed several times.
The prosecutor asked the jury to sentence Cruz to death on the grounds that the gunman’s behavior was not only heinous but also premeditated, and listed Cruz’s comprehensive plan for the shooting incident and his related comments on the Internet.
Cruz’s defense lawyer argued that the murderer had a neurodevelopmental disorder and claimed that his biological mother took drugs and drank alcohol while pregnant with him in order to win the sympathy of the jury members.
In the end, three of the 12 jury members voted against the death penalty and failed to reach an agreement on the death penalty sentence. Therefore, the judgment suggestion given was life imprisonment without parole.
On October 13, local time, when the court announced the jury’s decision, none of the jurors looked in the direction of the victim’s family, but bowed their heads or looked straight ahead. Cruz, accompanied by a defense lawyer, sat expressionless.
Gunman Cruz (middle) and his public defenderMelissa McNeil (Right one)
The families of the victims were emotional and could not accept the result, and some people could not help crying in court.
14岁枪击案受害者彼得的亲属在判决建议宣读后的新闻发布会上大喊“疯了吧”，“我们需要正义”。
14岁受害者吉娜的父亲托尼·蒙塔托在接受采访时称，陪审团的决定对受害者家属们来说是“重重一击”，“我们的司法系统本应该被用来在法律范围内最大程度地惩罚这名枪手”。
“杀死他们的怪物还能活着看着第二天的到来，”吉娜父亲哀叹道，“这名枪手并不值得同情，他在把枪抵着吉娜的胸部并选择扣动扳机时，他对她表现出同情了吗？或者他向她开的其他三枪中的任何一枪带着同情心？”
35岁受害教师贝格尔的家属迈克尔·舒尔曼称，这个决定等于给了所有人杀完人再拿精神疾病作辩护的许可。他将克鲁兹称为“动物”，“这个动物该死，他猎杀了那些人，计划了好几个月”。
佛州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯当天也对陪审团的判决建议表达了失望，“凶手完全无视基本人性，蓄意屠杀那些学生……我认为除了死刑其他结果都不合适”。
这虽然不是正式判决，但根据佛州法律，法官不能违背陪审团对凶手生命的处置建议。佛州布劳沃德县巡回法官伊丽莎白·谢勒预计在11月1日对克鲁兹作出正式判决。
本文系观察者网独家稿件，未经授权，不得转载。
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