AFP
News from the NOS•
Relatives of the victims of the Florida high school massacre in early 2018 are deeply frustrated that the perpetrator will not receive the death penalty. They spoke in court today, which led to emotional discussions.
In February 2018, 24-year-old Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 14 students and three employees of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, near Fort Lauderdale. He did it with an AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle that he had legally purchased. He injured 17 other people in the school, from whom he had been expelled a year earlier for harassment and violent behavior.
A few weeks ago, a jury recommended that Cruz not be sentenced to death, but to life in prison, with no possibility of release. Within this week, the judge will uphold the verdict, which is required by Florida law.
Jurors who did not vote for the death penalty said they did so due to the perpetrator’s severe mental problems. In Florida, a jury must be unanimous for a number of years on the death penalty. This was not the case in this case.
‘Domestic terrorist’
Relatives and victims injured in the shooting were able to speak in court today. Their speeches were listened to in silence by the author.
Inez Hixon, whose father-in-law was killed, called Cruz a “domestic terrorist”. “I don’t wish you peace,” she told him. “I wish you only pain.”
Some relatives of the victims had already indicated during the trial that they wanted the death penalty for the perpetrator. “He doesn’t deserve a life sentence,” said one mother. “Life in prison is still a life”.
