Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s sentencing phase of trial begins with jury selection

Jury choice was anticipated to start Monday to impanel those that will decide if faculty shooter Nikolas Cruz will face the loss of life penalty or life in jail after murdering 17 college students and employees members at a Parkland, Florida, highschool on Valentine’s Day 2018.

Cruz, now 23, pleaded responsible in October to the Feb. 14, 2018, bloodbath at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive College. Prosecutors are looking for the loss of life penalty on this sentencing section of the trial.

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The ultimate panel of 12 jurors plus eight alternates have been to be chosen from a pool of a minimum of 1,500 candidates who will likely be introduced earlier than Circuit Choose Elizabeth Scherer, prosecutors and Cruz’s public defenders for preliminary screening over the subsequent a number of weeks, courtroom officers stated.

Cruz, a former pupil at Stoneman Douglas, will get the loss of life penalty provided that the jury unanimously agrees that aggravating elements such because the variety of folks he killed, his planning and his cruelty outweigh such mitigating elements as his lifelong psychological sickness and the loss of life of his dad and mom.

If any juror disagrees, Cruz will obtain a life sentence with out parole.

Since Cruz already pleaded responsible in October, the jury being chosen will solely determine if he receives a loss of life sentence or life with out parole. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Solar-Sentinel by way of AP, Pool)

Demise penalty trials in Florida and far of the nation typically take two years to start out due to their complexity, however Cruz’s was additional delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and in depth authorized wrangling.

Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter, Gina, died within the assault, stated the trial “has been a very long time coming.”

“I simply hope everybody remembers the victims,” he stated. Cruz, he stated, “advised the world his plans on social media, carried out these plans in a chilly and calculated method and murdered my stunning daughter, 13 of her classmates and three of her academics.”

The Related Press contributed to this report.