After two days of hearing at Broward County Courthouse, Nikolas Cruz was formally sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer. Cruz’s life sentence came after a jury last month voted to spare him the death penalty. He has been charged with 17 counts of murder.

Nikolas Cruz’s hearing began on Monday when the 24-year-old shooter who killed 17 and injured several at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School faced the anguish of the victim’s families in the courtroom. Many of the family members also criticised Cruz’s defense.

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The 12-member jury had earlier voted 9 to 3 in favour of giving Cruz a death sentence. However, according to Florida law, there has to be a unanimous agreement among the jury in cases of death sentences.

“It is heartbreaking how any person who heard and saw all this did not give this killer the worst punishment possible,” Annika Dworet, the mother of deceased victim Nicholas Dworet, said in the courtroom on Wednesday. 

“As we all know the worst punishment in the state of Florida is the death penalty. How much worse would the crime have to be to warrant the death penalty?”, she asked. 

Cruz is responsible for the deadliest school shooting in the United States which took place on February 14, 2018. He was 19 years old then. Those killed at the incident were mostly students and staff.

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Cruz comes from a family with a troubled background. His mother Brenda Woodward had a history of drug abuse and her name was in Florida’s criminal records. Cruz was adopted by foster parents Lynda and Roger Cruz in childhood after his biological mother’s substance abuse barred her from bringing up children.