![]() Cruz stayed to himself and had few friends but struck fear in some students with erratic behavior and an affinity for violence. At a school with about 3,000 students, Mr. Cruz described him as a “troubled kid” who enjoyed showing off his firearms, bragging about killing animals and whose mother would resort to calling the police to have them come to their home to try to talk some sense into him. In the hours after the shooting, people who knew Mr. Cruz with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He was enrolled at another Broward County school, officials said. Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County, Fla., said that the man, Nikolas Cruz, 19, previously attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland but was expelled after getting into trouble. The man suspected of opening fire inside a Florida high school on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, is a former student who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons, the authorities said. Also Wednesday, he's expected to plead guilty to the Parkland Massacre.For the latest on the Florida school shooting, read our Thursday live updates. He faces up to 15 years in prison for that. ![]() Much of the penalty phase would likely focus on Cruz's mental condition at the time of the slayings, with prosecutors emphasizing their horrific nature and Cruz's intensive planning beforehand.Ĭruz will be sentenced on the jail battery case on Wednesday. Please consider that in your decision," he said. We didn't need to spend months on a trial a no put the families through what would be a hell having to relive all this. "Plan B is, we're likely not going to win either of the two trials to at least get the benefit of a guilty plea and be able to tell the jurors in the penalty phase, 'he plead guilty. A guilty plea would both avoid a traumatic, lengthy trial and still allow a jury to decide Cruz's fate.Īttorney Mark Eiglarsh, who's not affiliated with the case figures since the death penalty has not been removed from the table after all this time, Cruz and his attorneys changed course. 20.Ĭruz's lawyers have repeatedly offered to plead guilty in return for a guaranteed sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors have refused to drop their pursuit of the death penalty. Judge Scherer noted Cruz, now 23, could change his mind before his plea hearing, which she agreed to set for Wednesday, Oct. "We're asking the court to impose sentence on Wednesday on counts 18-24 in the parkland case to 17 consecutive life sentences," his attorney David Wheeler told the judge. Beltran then punched Cruz in the face, knocking him to the ground.ĭuring Friday's hering, Cruz's attorney also told Judge Scherer that Cruz plans to plead guilty to the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High that killed 17 students and staff and left 17 others injured.He faces 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Cruz then slipped from Beltran's grasp and allegedly punched him. They two then struggled over Beltran's stun gun which went off but didn't strike anyone. He exchanged words with Beltran who told him "not drag his sandals around while in a jail dayroom," according to the police report.Ĭruz then reportedly flipped him off Beltran before rushing at him, tackling him to the ground. The jail brawl incident took place nine months after the Parkland shooting. Video from the jail shows Cruz walking around tables in a common area.
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