Nikolas Cruz indicted on 17 counts of murder, 17 counts of attempted murder
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Nikolas Cruz now formally faces 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder in the Valentine’s Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, prosecutors announced Wednesday afternoon.
After nearly two days of testimony, ranging from the Uber driver who drove Cruz to the school Feb. 14 and the medical examiner who did autopsies of the bodies of the 17 who died, a Broward County grand jury on Wednesday afternoon voted to indict the 19-year-old.
Among Wednesday’s witnesses were the Parkland
family who gave a home to Cruz after his mother died in November.
Cruz confessed to arming himself with an AR-15 rifle and going on a shooting rampage at the Parkland school. He was arrested within 90 minutes of entering the school.
Cruz has been locked up at the Broward Main Jail, where he will remain, since the day of his arrest. He could face the death penalty, but prosecutors have not yet announced their intentions.
Until Wednesday’s indictment was announced, authorities had said Cruz killed 17 and injured 16. But the indictment charges that he tried to kill a 17th person.
Experts say that an attempted first-degree murder charge can be filed even if a person suffered no injury. Defendants have been convicted of attempted first-degree murder in cases where they shot into a car but did not hit anyone.
Cruz is charged with murdering: Luke Hoyer; Martin Duque-Anquiano; Gina Mantalto; Alexander Schachter; Alaina Petty; Alyssa Alhadeff; Nicholas Dworet; Helena Ramsay; Christopher Hixon; Carmen Schentrup; Aaron Feis; Scott Biegel; Meadow Pollack; Cara Loughran; Joaquin OliverPadauy; Jaime Guttenberg and Peter Wang.
He is charged with attempting to murder: Ashley Baez; William Olson; Kheshava Managapuram; Justin Colton; Alexander Dworet; Genesis Valentin; Daniela Menescal; Samantha Grady; Samantha Fuentes; Isabel Chequer; Samantha Mayor; Benjamin Wikander; Madeleine Wilford; Marian Kabachenko; Stacey Lippel; Anthony Borges and Kyle Laman.
Cruz’s defense team declined to comment.
Grand jury proceedings are held behind closed doors and state authorities took the unprecedented step of escorting witnesses through a secure rear entrance.
James and Kimberly Snead, who let their son’s friend, Cruz, live with them for about three months before the shooting, testified to the Broward County grand jury on Wednesday. Their attorney, Jim Lewis, went into the grand jury room with them.