British mother of girl killed in Parkland school massacre condemns verdict as gunman spared death penalty
Anne Ramsay, whose 17-year-old daughter was among victims of killer Nikolas Cruz, does not believe justice was done
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The British mother of a US school shooting victim believes “the wrong verdict” was given after the gunman was spared the death penalty.
Anne Ramsay, whose daughter Helena was among more than a dozen killed in the 2018 Florida massacre, said she felt “let down” by the jury in an emotional address following the verdict.
“Today I believe justice was not done,” she said on Thursday.
Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people and injured the same number in the shooting spree at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Helena, who was born in England but moved to the US when she was a child, was just 17 when she died trying to protect a friend as Cruz opened fire in their classroom.
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A jury ruled on Thursday Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Ms Ramsay joined other families in condemning the decision to spare the gunman, now 24, the death penalty after the verdict was delivered.
”After spending months and months listening and hearing testimonies and looking at the murderer, his composure, I believe justice was not done,” the British mother said. “The wrong verdict was given out today.”
“Seventeen people died,” she continued. “Fourteen beautiful children ... three adults [who] dedicated their lives to educating children died. And today, we find out there is no justice for us.”
Ms Ramsay said it had been “traumatising” for her family and the neighbourhood to have to listen to “countless” shootings that had taken place in four years since.
“We should have had the death sentence given out today because he took 17 lives and he attempted to take 17 more and it could have even been more,” she said. “And he planned it meticulously.”
“And now you have sent the message out there to everyone, it’s fine. Get an AR-15. Get a semi-automatic weapon. And you will just get off by pleading you’re insane. It’s the wrong message.
“It’s been years and years and years listening to the news hearing nothing but shootings in this country. And today we let someone off who murdered someone murdered 17 people in cold blood.”
Cruz pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
He was 19 years old at the time of the crime and had been expelled from the school.
The jury found that mitigating factors, such as disorders described by witnesses as stemming from his biological mother’s substance abuse during pregnancy, outweighed aggravating factors.
The prosecution had argued that Cruz’s crime was premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding whether a death sentence should be imposed.
In Florida, a jury must be unanimous in deciding to recommend a judge give a death sentence, requiring a conclusion that aggravating factors outweighed mitigating factors on at least one criminal count.
Jury foreperson Benjamin Thomas told a Florida TV station one juror insisted that Cruz not get the death penalty because of his mental illness.
“There was one with a hard ‘no,’ she couldn’t do it,” he said, adding that two other jurors “ended up voting the same way.”
Families of other victims voiced their outrage at the decision to spare Cruz the death penalty on Thursday, saying they were “beyond disappointed” and “another gut punch”.
The father of Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old killed in the massacre, asked jurors: “What were you thinking? ... Jail is about rehabbing someone. There is no rehabbing [Cruz].
“I pray that animal suffers every day of his life in jail.”
Fred Guttenberg, who also lost his 14-year-old daughter Jaime in the shooting, said he was “stunned” and “devastated” by the verdict. “There are 17 victims that did not receive justice today,” he said.