帕克兰学校枪手尼古拉·克鲁兹因在Marjory Stoneman Douglas高中制造了造成17人死亡的大屠杀，被佛罗里达州陪审团免于死刑并判处终身监禁。
克鲁兹去年承认了17项一级谋杀罪和17项一级谋杀未遂罪，这些罪行与2018年2月14日有关，他在以前的学校杀害了14名学生和三名工作人员。受害者中15岁的王蒙杰是陆军初级预备军官训练团的学员，他在帮助同学逃跑时丧生;35岁的斯科特·贝格尔是一名地理老师，他在教室里引导学生安全时被枪杀。
这个刑罚阶段的审判是决定克鲁兹是否会因为他19岁时犯下的大屠杀被判死刑或终身监禁。
陪审员在给法官的信中描述了“非常紧张”的经历
投票决定不判处尼古拉·克鲁兹死刑的陪审员之一在给法官的一封手写的信中详细描述了她的一些经历。
她写这封信是为了消除所谓的谣言，即她一直打算投票反对死刑。
Amy Beth Bennett/POOL/法新社
马乔里·斯通曼·道格拉斯高中枪手尼古拉·克鲁兹与助理公共图书馆交谈.
“(另一名陪审员)听到投票支持死刑的陪审员说，在审判开始前，我已经决定投票支持终身监禁，”她写道。“这一指控是不真实的，我坚持我对法庭的誓言，我将是公平和公正的。”
这封信继续描述陪审团的审议“非常紧张”，该陪审员补充说，“一旦我提到我将投票支持终身监禁，一些陪审员就变得非常不高兴。”
陪审团主席“对结果不满意”
陪审团主席本杰明·托马斯告诉ABC迈阿密分公司WPLG他没有投票支持无期徒刑，并且“对结果不满意”
“但是每个人都有权利为自己做决定——这是他们自己的道德决定，”托马斯说。"一些陪审员认为这是恰当的判决。"
托马斯告诉其他当地媒体，一名陪审员认为克鲁兹患有精神疾病，因此不应该被判处死刑。
托马斯告诉记者，一名陪审员在死刑问题上“坚决反对”，另外两名陪审员“最终投了相同的票”。
爸爸说判决向凶手传递了不好的信息
Manuel Oliver，他17岁的儿子Joaquin也是受害者之一，他告诉ABC新闻直播，他希望被判死刑。
“即使是死刑对我来说也不够，”他说。“华金死的方式...所受的苦难和痛苦的程度，射手将永远不会受到那样的惩罚。”
“但是现在我必须处理这个家伙的事实...将有机会有一个爱好，享受三餐，你知道，每天都读书。我不喜欢那样。我希望正义在某个时刻以任何方式出现。”
奥利弗选择不和妻子一起出席庭审。他还没有决定是否在11月1日出庭，届时受害者将有机会阅读陈述。
“我可能需要这样做，但我不知道，”他说。“我不想花更多的时间去想这个可怕的人，这个怪物。”
奥利弗在推特上写道，这一判决向杀手传递了一个不好的信息。
“这对整个国家来说是一个非常糟糕的先例，”他对ABC新闻补充道。
他的妻子帕特里夏·奥利弗告诉ABC新闻，她感到愤怒，并说她的儿子没有得到公正。
对于投票反对死刑的陪审团成员，她说，“他们必须在良心上接受这个事实。生活就是因果报应。到时候他们会记得自己做了什么。”
这个结果让他们更加痛苦
15岁的受害者王蒙杰的表妹王晨说，她的姑姑，彼得的母亲，患有创伤后应激障碍，“已经永远改变了”
“她不能正常工作。她睡不着，”她说。
她说，受害者家属“正在遭受痛苦”，“陪审团的这一结果让他们更加痛苦。”
“我们一直很安静。我们一直试图跟进，相信这个系统会帮助我们，但今天没有，”她说。
Parkland trial: Nikolas Cruz spared death penalty, grieving parents react
Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruzhas been spared the death penalty and sentenced to life in prison by a Florida jury for carrying out the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that claimed 17 lives.
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in connection to the Feb. 14, 2018, killing of 14 students and three staff members at his former school.Among the victimswere 15-year-old Peter Wang, an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet who died while helping classmates escape, and 35-year-old Scott Beigel, a geography teacher who was shot dead while shepherding students to safety in his classroom.
This penalty phase trialwas to determine if Cruz would be sentenced to death or life in prison for the massacre he committed at age 19.
Juror describes ‘very tense’ experience in letter to judge
One of the jurors who voted not to sentence Nikolas Cruz to death detailed some of her experience in a handwritten letter to the judge.
She wrote the letter in an effort to dispel alleged rumors that she always intended to vote against the death penalty.
“[Another juror] heard jurors who voted for the death penalty stating that I had already made up my mind on voting for life before the trial started,” she wrote. “This allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased.”
The letter goes on to describe the jury deliberations as “very tense,” with the juror adding that “some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.”
Jury foreman ‘not happy with how it worked out’
Jury foreman Benjamin Thomas toldABC Miami affiliate WPLGthat he didn’t vote for the life sentence and is “not happy with how it worked out.”
“But everybody has the right to decide for themselves -- it is a moral decision on their own,” Thomas said. “Some of the jurors just felt that was the appropriate sentence.”
Thomas told other local media outlets that one juror felt Cruz was mentally ill and therefore should not be sentenced to death.
One juror was a "hard no" when it came to the death penalty, and two more jurors "ended up voting the same way,” Thomas told reporters.
Dad says sentence sends bad message to killers
Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the victims, told ABC News Live he had hoped for the death penalty.
"Even the death penalty was not enough for me," he said. "The way that Joaquin died ... the amount of suffering and pain, the shooter will have never received that punishment."
"But now I have to deal with the fact that this guy ... is going to have a chance to have a hobby, and enjoy three meals and, you know, read every single day. I don't like that. I hope that justice appears in any way at some point."
Oliver chose not to attend the trial alongside his wife. He has not decided if he'll go to court on Nov. 1 when victims are given the opportunity to read statements.
"I might need to do that, but I don't know," he said. "I don't want to spend more time thinking about this horrendous person, this monster."
Oliver wrote on Twitter that the sentence sends a bad message to killers.
"It's a very bad precedent for the whole nation," he added to ABC News.
His wife, Patricia Oliver, told ABC News she feels enraged, and said her son did not get justice.
To jury members who voted against the death penalty, she said, "They have to live with that in their conscience. Life is about karma. They will remember what they did when the time comes."
’This result makes them suffer even more’
Chen Wang, cousin of 15-year-old victim Peter Wang, said her aunt, Peter’s mother, suffers from PTSD and “has changed forever.”
"She cannot function normally. She cannot sleep,” she said.
Victims’ families “are suffering,” she said, and “this result [from the jury] makes them suffer even more.”
"We have been quiet. We've been trying to follow, believing the system would help us, but it didn't today," she said.
