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.”
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.”
Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/parkland-shooter-trial/?id=91379423
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