Fort Lauderdale: Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty on Wednesday to kill 17 people when raging on his former high school in Parkland, Florida, left the jury to decide whether he would be executed because one of the deadliest school shootings.
The relatives of the victims sitting in the courtroom and watched the trial through Zoom shaking their heads or broke down because Cruz entered his request and then apologized for his crime.
“Today we saw a cold killer and counted claimed to murder my daughter Gina and 16 other innocent victims in their school,” said Tony Montalto.
“His guilty petition is the first step in the judicial process but there is no change for my family.
Our daughter is bright, beautiful, and loved by Gina away while the killer is still enjoying the life thanks to life in prison.” Request being guilty of setting the stage for a penalty trial where 12 judges will determine whether Cruz, 23 must be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.
Given the fame of the case, Elizabeth Scherer’s circuit judge plans to filter thousands of prospective judges.
The selection of judges is scheduled to begin on January 4.
Cruz entered his request after answering a long list of questions from Scherer which aims to confirm his mental competence.
He was charged with 17 charges of murder and 17 charges from the first-level murder attempted for those who were injured on February 14, 2018, the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which is located outside the fort Lauderdale.
When some parents shook their heads, Cruz apologized, said, “I am very sorry for what I did.
…
I sometimes can’t live with myself.” He also added that he hoped it was up to the victim to determine whether he lived or died.
Anthony Borges, a former student of Stoneman Douglas who was shot five times and was very injured, told reporters after hearing that he accepted Cruz’s apology, but noted that it was not as short of deciding the fate of the recognized killer.
“He made a decision to shoot school,” Borges said.
“I’m not God to make a decision to kill him or not.
That is not my decision.
My decision is to be a better person and to change the world for every child.
I don’t want this to happen to anyone.
I don’t get sick.
Really painful.
So, I will only continue to walk.
That’s it.
“Cruz’s lawyer announced his intention to plead guilty when he heard last week.
Following Wednesday’s request, Former State Lawyer Broward Mike Satz told the details of the murder.
Cruz killed 14 students and three staff members on Valentine’s Day 2018 for seven minutes rampage through a three-story building at Stoneman Douglas, said investigators.
They said he shot the victim in the halls and in the classroom with a semi-automatic ar-15 rifle.
Cruz has been expelled from Stoneman Douglas a year earlier after history of threatening, scary, unusual behavior and sometimes violence from preschool.
The shooting caused several Stoneman Douglas students to launch a parade for our lives, which encouraged the limitation of a stronger pistol nationally.
Since the days after the shooting, Cruz’s lawyer has offered him pleading guilty of a reward for life sentence, saying it would regret the emotional turmoil community to convey attacks.
But Satz refused the offer, said Cruz deserved a death sentence, and appointed himself the prosecutor.
Satz, 79, resigned as a state lawyer in January after 44 years, but still became Cruz prosecutor.
His replacement, Harold Pryor, opposed the death penalty but said he would follow the law.
Like Satz, he has never received a defense offer – as an elected official, which will be difficult, even in Liberal Broward County, where Democrats exceed the number of Republicans with more than 2 to 1.
By making Cruz guilty, his preaching will be able to argue during hearing penalty that he was responsible for his actions.
Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty for the massacre of Parkland School 2018
