Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Jurors on Thursday recommended life in prison without parole for Nikolas Cruz, who pleaded guilty to carrying out the Valentine's Day 2018 murders at Marjory Stone Douglas High School in Florida.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer will make a final ruling on the sentence for Cruz, 24, following a hearing on Nov. 1.
On Thursday, jurors found Cruz was guilty of aggravating factors that warranted a possible death sentence but said that they did not outweigh the mitigating factors. A unanimous decision would have been required to issue a death sentence under Florida law.
Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder in the 2018 Valentine's Day mass shooting at Marjory Stone Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The defense abruptly rested their case Sept. 14. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer lambasted them for "the most uncalled for, unprofessional way to try a case."
The jury's sentencing verdicts for all 17 people killed by Cruz were read during a livestream from the Florida courtroom Thursday.
Prosecutors for weeks told the jurors how Cruz came to the school armed with a rifle and killed 17 people. They called Cruz "cold, calculative, manipulative and deadly."
