Parkland 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 – a move that stunned the families of his victims.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the February 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school.
After a month-long trial deciding Cruz’s fate, the jury’s recommendation is not an official sentence. Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer is still expected to issue the gunman’s proper sentence on November 1. Under Florida law, however, she cannot depart from the jury’s recommendation of life.
In an exclusive interview with Baller Alert, former National Director of NAACP and National Human Rights Organizer Tiffany Loftin shares her expertise on the jury’s recommendation.
What would constitute someone to get the death penalty?
“I’ve been organizing for 12 years, and I have come to form important values for how I do my work and what justice means to me. My values agree that nothing constitutes the death penalty, no matter how mad I am personally at the injustice or violence done. I am against the death penalty and believe it should be abolished because it is uncivilized, especially in the US where poor people, people of color, and the location of a person impacts the likelihood of how they are treated in the death penalty system. It is also a huge waste of taxpayers’ funders and has no public safety benefit because it doesn’t prove to prevent crime.”
What’s the difference between this situation and another situation in which someone has gotten the death penalty?
Family members of the victims were visibly emotional when Judge Elizabeth Scherer read through the verdict. Some were even shaking their heads and others wiping tears.
Lori Alhadeff, the mother of Alyssa Alhadeff, dropped her head into her hand as the verdict related to her daughter was read.
Max Schachter, the father of victim Alex Schachter, 14, tweeted that the gunman “got everything he wanted” with the verdict “while our loved ones are in the cemetery.”
Prior to the shooting the Parkland murderer said he wanted to kill 20 people. He stopped after killing 17 including my sweet little boy Alex. Afterwards he didn’t want to die. He wanted to live. Today he got everything he wanted. While our loved ones are in the cemetery.
— Max Schachter (@maxschachter) October 13, 2022
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