FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A process tragically set in motion more than four years ago will enter its final stage early next week when lawyers begin selecting the 12 jurors who will decide the fate of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz.
Jury selection for Cruz’s sentencing trial is set to start on Monday. The jurors will decide whether the 23-year-old will spend the rest of his life in prison or be sentenced to death.
Hours after the mass shooting, Cruz confessed to the murders of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day of 2018. He pleaded guilty back in October.
Only his sentencing remains, but it will not happen quickly.
Choosing the jury, which will include 20 alternates in addition to the 12 jury members, will take a month alone, and Broward County Circuit Judge Scherer said it may take six months to work through the case.
The trial comes as families of the victims have already waited more than four years for justice.
Among the victims was Chris Hixon, an athletic director and coach who was killed while trying to save students.
His widow, Debbie Hixon, said waiting a few more months to find out Cruz’s fate is bearable.
“A couple of more months is better than a couple of more years,” she said.
When the time comes, Hixon said, she plans to address the court.
“We do get to do an impact statement. I don’t believe that – it’s more for the jury than it is for the shooter,” she said.
Friday afternoon, Cruz sat in a courtroom much larger than the one where he’s spent the past four years. The new one will accommodate the dozens of family members expected to attend the trial.
Lawyers on Friday discussed last-minute details before the first of thousands of potential jurors enter on Monday. It’s the largest event the Broward County Courthouse will have ever navigated.
While the shooter and his actions will be the focal point of the proceedings, the justice served will come in the name of the lives lost and their heartbroken families left behind.
It will take a unanimous decision by the jury for Cruz to be sentenced to death.
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