By EFE
Parents and relatives of the 17 fatalities in the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida said they were "disappointed" with the jury's verdict, which on Thursday recommended life in prison for the confessed killer, Nikolas Cruz, and not death penalty, as some expected.
In a press conference offered after the jury announced its decision, the relatives of the victims pointed out that
"justice has not been done"
and that they will continue to fight so that a shooting like this "never happens again."
"I was devastated when I heard the sentence, I have spent almost five years preparing myself mentally for today," said Fred Guttenberg, father of the 17-year-old student Jaime Guttenberg, who, as the man detailed, was shot from behind while He ran from the bullets.
Fred Guttenberg speaks after the jury recommended life in prison for Nikolas Cruz, on October 13, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Getty Images
"They shot him when he was running, I want to tell you that this monster is going to jail, and he's going to die in prison, and I'm going to wait for that," he said.
Guttenberg, like other relatives of the victims who spoke to the press today, believes that
Cruz "should have received the death penalty today."
"His act was premeditated, I do not understand how it is possible that this jury reached this conclusion, but 17 families did not receive justice," he added.
The jury's recommendation, reached at the beginning of the second day of deliberations, surprised many relatives present in the room, who shook their heads or cried as the verdict was read on each of the charges that Cruz faced, freeing him from capital punishment. .
Michael Schulman and Linda Beigel Schulman embrace upon hearing that their son's killer Scott Beigel will not receive the death penalty.Getty Images
After pleading guilty a year ago to all charges in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, the 24-year-old faced only two possible sentences: life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
Under Florida law, the latest case required unanimity by all 12 jurors on at least one of the 17 murder charges he faced.
The reading of the decision of the seven men and five women that make up the jury shows that at least one of them considered that the mitigating factors that the defense exposed outweighed the aggravating factors to which the Prosecutor's Office appealed, which requested the sentence of death.
[On Video: The Moment Parkland Killer Heard Jury's Recommended Punishment]
This was stated to the press, speaking in Spanish, by Patricia Oliver, mother of the murdered student Joaquín Oliver.
“It was something that we were not expecting.
Florida contemplates the death penalty and this case was the perfect one to determine that it was the appropriate sentence, "said Oliver's mother.
Patricia Padauy Oliver holds up a photo of her son Joaquin Oliver before giving his statement during the penalty phase in the high school shooter's trial, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.AP
"The jury did the job it had to do, but the person who decided at the last minute that the death penalty was not appropriate committed an injustice before the community, which ultimately could not see the weight of the law," the woman added. .
Linda Beigel Shulman, mother of student Scott Beigel, was blunt in pointing out that "if this was not the perfect case for the death penalty, then we will never have justice for anyone again."
“We are all disappointed because the Prosecutor's Office presented a perfect case.
He (Cruz) is going to carry on his shoulders what he did for the rest of his life;
I hope he feels the same fear that the people he murdered felt, "
said the mother.
Linda Beigel Schulman holds up a photo of her son Scott Beigel during the penalty phase of the trial, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.AP
The sentenced man entered the first-year high school building on February 14, 2018 with an assault rifle and opened fire indiscriminately, then fled camouflaged in the crowd until he was later arrested by the local police, to whom he confessed. be the author of the massacre.
Scott's father, Michael Shulman, said little and relied on a graphic resource to show the image of Cruz shooting from a computer.
“This is not a video game or a movie, but something real.
We were all victims here, that was my son's birthday, we will never celebrate it again," Shulman lamented.
Michael Schulman holds a picture of the school shooting on the screen while his wife.
Linda Beigel Schulman looks at the jury on October 13, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Getty Images
For his part, Tony Montalto, who lost his 14-year-old daughter, Gina Montalto, that day, highlighted, like many other parents, "the excellent work" done by the State Attorney's Office team.
“We created the Gina Foundation so that her star would not be extinguished by this monster.
She deserved better from this jury and the Broward County Sheriff's Office, even the FBI.
They failed,” she commented.
Jennifer and Tony Montalto listen as Palm Beach County Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Marlin Osbourne testifies about the gunshot wounds their daughter Gina Montalto sustained in the mass shooting on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. AP
“The gunman fired 199 times and each time he fired with intent to kill.
That is cruel, very strong and should have been punished, it should have been an exception to the law”, Montalto sentenced.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer will make the sentence official at a hearing to be held on November 1.