Parkland trial: Dad feels 'failed' by jury that sentenced gunman to life

"I could not be more disappointed," dad Fred Guttenberg said after court.

ByEmily Shapiro
Last Updated: October 13, 2022, 9:47 AM EDT

Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison by a Florida jury for carrying out the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives.

Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school. Among the victims were 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.

This penalty phase trial was to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19.

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Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Oct 13, 2022, 9:47 AM EDT

Defense says Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays, prosecution says he planned ‘systematic massacre’

Cruz's defense attorneys had urged the jury to sentence him to life in prison. The defense admitted Cruz was responsible for his actions and planned the school shooting, but argued Cruz suffered lifelong developmental delays that traced back to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

"Sentencing Nikolas to death will change absolutely nothing," defense attorney Melisa McNeill said in closing arguments. "It will not bring back those 17 innocent victims that he viciously murdered."

PHOTO: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz looks up at his attorney as she gives her closing argument in the penalty phase of Cruz's trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Oct. 11, 2022.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz looks up at his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill, as she gives her closing argument in the penalty phase of Cruz's trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Oct. 11, 2022.
Amy Beth Bennett/AP

The prosecution, arguing for the death penalty, told jurors that Cruz researched previous mass shootings and planned a "systematic massacre."

"Some of the remarks the defendant wrote on his YouTube were: 'No mercy, no questions, double tap. I'm going to ... murder children. ... I'd love to see the families suffer,'" prosecutor Michael Satz said in closing arguments.

"He's thinking ahead," Satz said, by "not only looking to inflict pain" on the victims, but also "anticipating how that pain, fear and death ... is gonna affect the families."

PHOTO: Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse, Sept. 14, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse, Sept. 14, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Amy Beth Bennett/Pool via Getty Images, FILE