New York Daily News

Death penalty bid in HS slays

- BY CHRIS SOMMERFELD­T

NIKOLAS CRUZ, accused of shooting 17 people to death at a Florida high school, will face the death penalty, prosecutor­s said Tuesday.

The 19-year-old allegedly stormed into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and methodical­ly gunned down his former classmates and teachers on Feb. 14., a crime State Attorney Michael Satz said warrants capitol punishment.

Cruz (inset) is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on a 34-count indictment that includes 17 first-degree murder charges.

His public defender has argued that he suffers from serious mental illness, pledging that he will enter a guilty plea if prosecutor­s agree to not seek the death penalty.

The only other option on the table for Cruz is life in prison without the possibilit­y of parole.

Public defender Howard Finkelstei­n reiterated his promise Tuesday, saying that Cruz is “immediatel­y ready” to plead guilty in exchange for 34 consecutiv­e life sentences. “We are not saying he is not guilty but we can’t plead guilty while death is still on the table,” Finkelstei­n said.

Satz’s filing states that prosecutor­s will consider expert testimony on Cruz’s mental health as long as it is presented at least 20 days before trial.

Under Florida’s lax gun laws, Cruz was able to legally purchase the AR-15 assault rifle that he used to carry out the bloodshed.

The horrific Valentine’s Day massacre has prompted renewed calls for beefed-up gun control across the country.

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 ??  ?? With News Wire Services A woman walks through a display of 7,000 pairs of shoes, installed (above) earlier Tuesday outside the Capitol to memorializ­e the 7,000 children killed by gun violence since the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012.
With News Wire Services A woman walks through a display of 7,000 pairs of shoes, installed (above) earlier Tuesday outside the Capitol to memorializ­e the 7,000 children killed by gun violence since the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012.
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