Jury recommends life in prison for Nikolas Cruz

A Florida jury Thursday recommended life in prison, without parole, for Nikolas Cruz. He earlier pleaded guilty to killing 17 people in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, and the trial’s purpose was to determine his sentence. The jury said it could not unanimously agree on giving him the death penalty, which required a unanimous verdict. The judge would still have had to finalize the jury’s verdict.

What happens now? The judge will formally issue the sentence of life in prison without parole on Nov. 1. Families of the victims will be able to speak at that sentencing hearing. Many parents looked angry, covered their eyes, or shook their heads as the life in prison sentences were announced for the various counts in court Thursday.

Dig deeper: Read Susan Olasky’s column from the WORLD archives about how Christians should respond to mass shootings.