Parkland school mass shooter Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder Wednesday. The video above shows clips from the hearing.
Lawyers for Cruz announced the guilty pleas last Friday. Now, he has to wait to hear whether he will spend life in prison or possibly face the death penalty.
That decision will be made by a penalty trial. Pretrial hearings are expected over the next couple months. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer set jury selection to begin Jan. 4. Since Cruz pleaded guilty to the Parkland mass shooting, his attorneys will be able to argue during the penalty hearing that he took responsibility for his actions.
After pleading guilty to the Parkland mass shooting, Cruz apologized to the victims’ families. He also said he wished it was up to the survivors to determine whether he lived or died.
“I’m very sorry for what I did,” Cruz said. “I can’t live with myself sometimes.”
Anthony Borges is a former Stoneman Douglas student. He was shot five times and severely wounded on Valentine’s Day 2018. After Wednesday’s hearing, Borges told reporters he accepted Cruz’s apology, but noted it was not up to him to decide Cruz’s fate.
“He made a decision to shoot the school,” Borges said. “I am not God to make the decision to kill him or not. That’s not my decision. My decision is to be a better person and to change the world for every kid. I don’t want this to happen to anybody again. It hurts. It hurts. It really hurts. So, I am just going to keep going. That’s it.”
Tony Montalo, who lost his daughter in the Parkland shooting, wasn’t so forgiving of Cruz following the guilty pleas.
“Today we saw a cold and calculating killer confess to the murder of my daughter Gina and 16 other innocent victims at their school,” Tony Montalto said. “His guilty pleas are the first step in the judicial process, but there is no change for my family. Our bright, beautiful, and beloved daughter Gina is gone while her killer still enjoys the blessing of life in prison.”