Jury reaches decision on sentence of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz

A assemblage reached its determination Thursday successful the punishment proceedings of Nikolas Cruz, who gunned down 17 radical astatine Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, successful 2018.

The proceedings was to determine whether to condemnation Cruz to beingness successful situation oregon the decease penalty. 

The determination by the 12-person assemblage was determined astir 3 months aft opening statements began July 18 and aft the assemblage received deliberation instructions Wednesday. It volition beryllium announced astatine 10:30 a.m.

Prosecutors privation the decease penalty, portion the defence wanted beingness successful prison. The assemblage has to scope a unanimous determination for the decease sentence.

Cruz, past 19, had stormed the precocious schoolhouse connected Valentine's Day wielding an AR-15-style firearm and releasing a spray of bullets. He pleaded blameworthy past October to murdering 14 students and 3 unit members in the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre. 

During closing arguments Tuesday, defence counsel Melisa McNeill told the assemblage earlier they started deliberations: "One time I committedness you, you volition inquire yourself, did I marque the close decision? You volition ne'er hide voting for life."

Lead authoritative Mike Satz concluded the state's closing arguments by emotionally speechmaking each victim's sanction saying, "The due condemnation for Nikolas Cruz is the decease penalty." 

The lengthy proceedings saw prosecutors call witnesses who recalled seeing students and unit members die and reason that the gunman had displayed racist and misogynistic behaviour online anterior to the massacre. Violent writings and drawings were recovered successful his jailhouse compartment successful the spring.

Meanwhile, the defence argued that his commencement mother's intoxicant maltreatment during her pregnancy led to his erratic and convulsive behavior.

In a uncommon move, jurors successful August visited the tract of the massacre, wherever thing had been changed from that deadly time much than 4 years ago, but for the removal of the victims' bodies and immoderate idiosyncratic items. They walked past dried Valentine's Day roseate petals scattered connected schoolroom floors, ample pools of dried humor and bullet-riddled walls.

In the trial, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Charles Scott testified for the authorities that the gunman meets the criteria for a diagnosis of antisocial property disorder, meaning helium showed nary respect for close and wrong, and there was grounds showing helium knew what helium was doing. 

"So, it's not that helium didn't cognize oregon recognize that. He did," Scott said, NBC Miami reported. "It's conscionable that [people] with a societal property disorder, they don't care."  

In Scott's chilling grounds Oct. 4, helium spoke of his jailhouse interrogation with Cruz, who told him helium ended the shooting because, "I didn't person anyone other to kill."

The proceedings besides saw hostility betwixt the defence and Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer successful which the gunman's attorneys filed a question for her to measurement down, accusing her of being biased, but she refused.

The question came after Scherer rebuked pb defence lawyer Melisa McNeill and her squad extracurricular of the jury's presence, accusing them of being "unprofessional" erstwhile they unexpectedly rested their lawsuit aft lone astir 25 of the 80 witnesses they initially intended to attest had been called.