INTERNATIONAL: It will be the question of life or death as proceedings open Monday April 4 to determine the sentencing of the gunman who has pleaded guilty to murdering 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school in 2018.
Jurors will hear testimony from scores of witnesses to help them decide whether to sentence Nikolas Cruz, 23, to death or life in prison for Florida's deadliest school shooting.
Cruz was a 19-year-old expelled student when he returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018 and opened fire on students and staff. He pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
Under Florida law, a jury must be unanimous in its decision to recommend that a judge sentence Cruz to be executed. If any of the 12 jurors objects, Cruz will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Among the "mitigating" factors the defense will ask the jury to consider are Cruz's brain damage from his mother's drug and alcohol abuse during pregnancy, his long history of mental-health disorders and allegations he was sexually abused and bullied.
Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the deadliest ever at a U.S. high school.
Cruz had a history of mental health and behavioral issues at the time of the "cold, calculated and premeditated" killings, Broward County's State's Attorney Office said in court documents.
After the pleas were entered, Cruz removed his COVID-19 mask and apologized to his victims.
"I am very sorry for what I did and I have to live with it every day," he said. "And that if I were to get a second chance, I will do everything in my power to try to help others ... I have to live with this every day, and it brings me nightmares that I can't live with myself sometimes."
Because prosecutors have vowed to seek the death penalty, his change of plea from not guilty opens the penalty phase. A jury would decide whether he should be sentenced to life in prison or death.
Some of the teenagers who survived the deadly rampage formed "March for Our Lives," an organization that called for gun control legislation such as a ban on assault-style rifles.
In March 2018, the group held a nationally televised march in Washington that sparked hundreds of similar rallies worldwide. Cruz was 18 when he legally purchased from a licensed gun dealer the AR-15 rifle used in the shooting.
The U.S. government has reached a settlement valued at about $130 million with the families of students and faculty who were killed and injured during the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.
The settlement, once finalized, would resolve litigation seeking to hold the FBI accountable for its handling of tips involving the teenage shooter.
