Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) believes the “only appropriate sentence for the massacre of 17 innocent people is the death penalty,” expressing disappointment in the jury’s sentencing recommendation for the Parkland shooter.
“The only appropriate sentence for the massacre of 17 innocent people is the death penalty,” DeSantis said in a social media post, referring to the single holdout refusing to authorize a capital sentence as a “miscarriage of justice.” De Santis added, “My prayers are with the Parkland families.”
WLRN reported that jury foreman Benjamin Thomas “appeared to confirm that three of the 12 jurors ultimately voted for life.” The outlet quoted Thomas’s explanation. “‘There was one with a hard no, she couldn’t do it. And there was another two that ended up voting the same way.'”
DeSantis elaborated on his position during Thursday’s press conference.
“I think that if you have a death penalty at all, that that is a case where you’re massacring those students with premeditation, in utter disregard for basic humanity, that you deserve the death penalty,” DeSantis said.
“And so the jurors came back it 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 the same sentence of people who’ve committed bad acts, but acts that did not rise to this level,” he continued.
“I just don’t think anything else is appropriate except the capital sentence in this case. And so I was very disappointed to see that,” he added, lamenting the amount of time it has taken to arrive to this sentence.
“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,” he added.
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DeSantis’s remarks followed the decision of the jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the sentencing phase of the trial of mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, who murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. The jury returned a recommendation of a life sentence without the possibility of parole.