Parkland School Mass Killer Gets Life Sentence, Avoids Death Penalty

Published October 13, 2022

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The gunman who killed 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018 on Valentines Day has been handed a recommendation by the jury; Life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty.

The penalty phase of the trial lasted a month, and the jurors were then sent into their room to deliberate the gunman’s fate.

Some families of the victims expressed anger at the outcome, trying to come to terms with the jury’s decision.

“I sent my daughter to school and she was shot eight times,” Lori Alhadeff said, whose daughter Alyssa Alhadeff was killed in the shooting. “I’m so beyond disappointed and frustrated …I just don’t understand.”

Alyssa’s father had words of his own, not understanding the decision that was handed down.

“What do we have the death penalty for?” he asked. “You set a precedent today. You set a precedent for the next mass shooting … as a country, we need to stand up and say, ‘that is not OK.’”

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