Closing Arguments In Parkland Gunman Case

Advertisement

Advertisement

FLORIDA – Closing arguments are underway in the trial of the man accused of one of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history, to reach a jury trial.

24-year-old Nikolas Cruz is facing the death penalty in the famous parkland florida shootings in 2018.

Prosecutors called it a “planned systematic massacre” in the sentencing phase of the trial on Tuesday.

Nikolas pleaded guilty to the 17 counts of murder last October.

A jury must decide whether to execute him or let him spend the rest of his life in jail without parole.

In his guilty plea, he said he was very sorry and asked to be given a chance to help others.

At the time of the massacre he was only 19 years old. His defense attorney asked that his life be spared, citing mental health disorders from his mother’s drug abuse during pregnancy.

“What he wanted to do, what his plan was and what he did was to murder children at school and their caretakers. That’s what he wanted to do. That’s what he planned to do. That’s what he wanted to do, and that’s what he did.

“He picked Valentine’s day to do it while school was in session and you could tell by the evidence in the testimony you’ve been sitting here listening to everything, this plan was goal directed. It was calculated. It was purposeful and it was this systematic massacre,” prosecutors said.