Parkland sentencing: Nikolas Cruz sentenced to life in prison
Many victims' parents are outraged that the gunman was spared the death penalty.
Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, following two days of victim impact statements from survivors and family members of the 17 students and staff killed in the Parkland high school massacre.
Last month, a Florida jury rejected prosecutors' appeals for the death penalty, reaching a verdict on life in prison for the 2018 mass shooting Cruz committed at age 19 at South Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Many victims' parents were outraged by the verdict, arguing that sparing Cruz the death penalty may send a bad message to future school shooters.
The jury's decision needed to be unanimous to sentence Cruz to death.
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Mom to Cruz: ‘Your living hell is about to get started’
Patricia Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the victims, said in an impassioned statement, if this case “doesn’t deserve the death penalty, what does?”
“You had in your head enjoyment,” she said directly to Nikolas Cruz. “Listen to me, defendant -- enjoyment while killing my son, Joaquin Oliver, and coming back to him to blow his brain out.”
“Your living hell is about to get started,” she said. “Joaquin is a legend for what he is and for what he will be. Nice, kind, humble. And you will remember every single day of your life about what Joaquin is.”
Parents of injured teen say he's still recovering
Bree Wikander was overcome with emotion as she spoke on behalf of her son, Ben, who was shot three times, including in the back. Ben was 17 at the time and suffered extensive injuries.
“One of Ben’s trauma surgeons … once said to us, Ben sustained injuries similar to what a soldier would in combat,” she said.
“To this day he is still recovering,” Bree Wikander said. “You will never understand the pain that he has gone through. His life and the lives of our entire family have changed forever both physically and mentally.”
Ben’s father, Eric Wikander, said he hopes Cruz has a “painful existence” in prison, adding that it would still be “a fraction of what Ben endured.”
Teacher says she's forever damaged
“You don’t know me, but you tried to kill me,” Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teacher Stacy Lippel said to Nikolas Cruz in court.
“I will have a scar on my arm and the memory of you pointing your gun at me engrained in my brain forever. The person I was at 2:20 on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, is not the same one who stands here today. I am broken and altered and I will never look at the world the same way again,” Lippel said. “A part of me is damaged and I can feel how different I am.”
She said she struggles with trust, is always thinking about the worst-case scenario, and is left with guilt, wishing she could have done more to save her colleagues and students. She said her husband’s and children’s innocence were stripped away, too.
Lippel said she’s “disgusted” that Cruz was spared the death penalty.
“My hope for you is that you die sooner rather than later,” calling him a “monster.”
After Lippel’s statement, Judge Elizabeth Scherer called her a “hero.”
Victim’s grandma tells Cruz to ‘burn in hell’
Terri Rabinovitz, grandmother of 14-year-old victim Alyssa Alhadeff, said Florida’s Supreme Court should reexamine the law that requires a jury’s decision be unanimous for the death penalty.
“I’m too old to see you live out your life sentence, but I hope your every breathing moment here on earth is miserable and you repent for your sins, Nikolas, and burn in hell,” she said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has called on the state legislature to change the death sentencing rules in the wake of the Cruz verdict.