Parkland school killer formally sentenced to life in prison

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killer Nikolas Cruz seated at the defence table for a sentencing hearing at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP/PA)

Parkland school gunman Nikolas Cruz formally has received a sentence of life without parole after families of his victims spent two days berating him as evil, a coward, a monster and a subhuman.

Cruz, shackled and in a red jail jumpsuit, watched circuit judge Elizabeth Scherer as she pronounced 34 consecutive life sentences — one each for the dead and the 17 he wounded — for the February 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The judge’s voice broke as she read the first of the sentences. Cruz showed no emotion as she spoke.

The jury in Cruz’s three-month penalty trial voted 9-3 on October 13 to sentence him to death, but Florida law requires unanimity for that sentence to be imposed.

Relatives of victims embrace during a break in the sentencing hearing for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killer Nikolas Cruz (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP/PA)

The sentencing came after two days’ worth of parents, wives, siblings and other relatives of victims and some of the surviving wounded addressing him face to face in victim impact statements.

The judge commended the families and wounded who testified, calling them strong, graceful and patient.

“I know you are going to be OK, because you have each other,” she said.

Some parents and other family members wept as she read. When she finished and Cruz was led from the courtroom, one father muttered “Good riddance”.

Cruz, 24, will be taken within days to the Florida prison system’s processing centre near Miami before he is assigned to a maximum-security prison.

David Alhadeff, the uncle of Alyssa Alhadeff, told Cruz via Zoom from his classroom in Maryland that he deserves “the opportunity to rot away”.

“You deserve the opportunity to absorb the look of terror on your face once you leave this courtroom,” Mr Alhadeff said. “You deserve the opportunity of knowing that justice will prevail at some point, causing you great anguish, minute by minute, day by day.”