The shooter who killed 17 students and staff in the Parkland school shooting has been officially sentenced to life in prison.
A jury in Florida voted to spare Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty last month, choosing instead life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year – one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.
The jury in Cruz’s three-month trial voted 9-3 to sentence him to death last month, but Florida law requires unanimity for the sentence to be handed down.
On Wednesday, Judge Elizabeth Scherer sentenced him to 17 consecutive life sentences for the February 14, 2018 massacre and 17 additional sentences for the attempted murders of those he injured.
Relatives approach the killer
The sentencing came after relatives of the victims spoke to him face to face for two days.
Anne Ramsay, the mother of 17-year-old Helena Ramsay, told him he was “pure evil”.
Inez Hixon, daughter-in-law of school athletic director Chris Hixon, called him a “domestic terrorist”.
Debbie Hixon holds a picture of her husband, Chris Hixon
David Alhadeff, Alyssa Alhadeff’s uncle, told Cruz he deserved “the opportunity to rot”.
“You deserve the opportunity to absorb the look of terror on your face once you leave this courtroom,” he said.
“You deserve the opportunity to know that justice will prevail at some point, causing you great anguish, minute by minute, day by day.”
The judge commended the families and injured who testified, calling them strong, graceful and patient.
“I know you’re fine, because you know each other,” Judge Scherer said.
Students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas days after the deadly attack
Cruz, an expelled student, was 19 when he used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members.
He had apologized for his crimes and asked to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in order to devote his lie to helping others.
The massacre has led to renewed calls for stricter gun control in the United States, which gained further support this year after the shootings of 19 children and two teachers. at a school in Uvalde, Texas and another shooting in a supermarket in Buffalo, New Yorkwhich killed 10 people.
