Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reacted Thursday afternoon to the news that the jury had returned its recommendation for Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas murderer Nikolas Cruz. An 11-1 vote ensured the killer would not be handed down the death pently, but instead serve seventeen life sentences for the premeidtated murder of classmates and teachers.
Releasing a brief statement on Twitter, alongside a fuller press conference, DeSantis said:
The only appropriate sentence for the massacre of 17 innocent people is the death penalty. That the jury had a single holdout refuse to authorize a capital sentence represents a miscarriage of justice.
My prayers are with the Parkland families.
The only appropriate sentence for the massacre of 17 innocent people is the death penalty. That the jury had a single holdout refuse to authorize a capital sentence represents a miscarriage of justice.
My prayers are with the Parkland families. pic.twitter.com/f2M0Fw1SLo
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 13, 2022
I think that if you have a death penalty at all, that that is a case where you’re massacring those students with premeditation and utter disregard for basic humanity that you deserve the death penalty. And so the jurors came back. And apparently it was 11 to one with one holdout, refusing to authorize the ultimate punishment. And that means that this killer is going to end up getting a same sentence of people who’ve committed bad acts, but acts that did not rise to this level.
I just don’t think anything else is appropriate, except the Capitol sentence in this case. And so I was very disappointed to see that. I’m also disappointed that we’re four and a half years after these killings, and we’re just now getting this. You know, they used to do this he would have been executed in six months.
He’s guilty. Everybody knew that from the beginning. And yet it takes years and years in this legal system that is not serving the interests of victims.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that Cruz had already plead guilty to the heinous crime, an act that involved months of planning and an execution on Valentine’s Day for the specific reason of tarnishing the day forever.
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty a year ago to murdering 14 students and three staff members and wounding 17 others on Feb. 14, 2018. Cruz said he chose Valentine’s Day to make it impossible for Stoneman Douglas students to celebrate the holiday ever again.
Lead prosecutor Mike Satz kept his case simple for the seven-man, five-woman jury. He focused on Cruz’s eight months of planning, the seven minutes he stalked the halls of a three-story classroom building, firing 140 shots with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, and his escape.
Hailey Sanibel fiercely loves freedom. She equally detests evil and stupidity, both of which are out of control in the modern world. She is a regular contributor at The Blue State Conservative.
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This story syndicated with permission from The Blue State Conservative