Nikolas Cruz: Parkland school shooter sentenced to life in prison - Reuters

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Nikolas Cruz, who murdered 17 students and unit with a semi-automatic firearm astatine a Florida precocious school, was formally sentenced to beingness successful situation connected Wednesday aft listening to hours of anguished grounds from survivors and victims' relatives.

A assemblage voted past month to spare Cruz, 24, the decease penalty, alternatively choosing beingness successful situation without anticipation of parole for 1 of the deadliest wide shootings successful U.S. history.

Cruz pleaded blameworthy past twelvemonth to premeditated execution for his rampage connected Feb. 14, 2018, past faced the three-month punishment proceedings earlier this year.

Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer agreed to a prosecution petition to archetypal let relatives of Cruz's victims to code the tribunal earlier the condemnation was handed down. The sentencing proceedings began connected Tuesday with unfortunate interaction statements.

Many victims' relatives castigated the jury's determination and criticized a authorities instrumentality request that each 12 jurors beryllium unanimous successful bid to condemnation a convicted idiosyncratic to beryllium executed.

"How overmuch worse would the transgression person to beryllium to warrant the decease penalty?" said Annika Dworet, the parent of 17-year-old unfortunate Nicholas Dworet.

Some relatives besides chided Cruz's defence lawyers, who fruitlessly objected to the justice astir the disapproval of them and the jurors connected Tuesday, noting that Cruz had a law close to ineligible representation.

Many victims' relatives straight addressed Cruz, who sat inscrutable down ample spectacles and a COVID-19 disguise astatine a array alongside his nationalist defenders, wearing reddish situation overalls and handcuffs. He removed his disguise erstwhile the parent of 1 of his victims told him keeping it connected was disrespectful

Anne Ramsay, the parent of 17-year-old Helena Ramsay, told him helium was "pure evil;" Inez Hixon called him a "domestic terrorist" for sidesplitting her father-in-law, schoolhouse athletics manager Chris Hixon.

Cruz was 19 astatine the clip of his onslaught connected Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School successful Parkland, astir 30 miles (50 km) northbound of the courthouse successful Fort Lauderdale. He had been expelled from the school.

Some of the survivors went connected to signifier a youth-led question for tighter weapon regulations successful the United States, which has the highest complaint of backstage weapon ownership successful the satellite and wherever wide shootings person go recurrent.

Cruz spoke lone concisely astatine the hearing, answering the judge's questions astir whether helium understood the proceedings.

Samantha Fuentes, who Cruz changeable successful the leg, asked Cruz if helium remembered making oculus interaction with her erstwhile she laic bleeding successful her classroom.

"You are a hateful bigot with an AR-15 and a deity complex," she said. "Without your anserine gun, you are nothing."

Victoria Gonzalez, whose fellow 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver was among those Cruz killed, told Cruz they were successful the aforesaid people together.

"I'm atrocious that you ne'er saw the emotion that the satellite is susceptible of giving," she told Cruz. "My justness does not prevarication successful knowing if you unrecorded oregon if you die. My justness lives successful knowing that I experienced a emotion that a batch of radical spell their full lifetimes without experiencing."

Reporting by Jonathan Allen successful New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Richard Pullin

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