DeSantis says Parkland shooter deserves the death penalty

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the man sentenced Thursday to life without parole for the 2018 killing of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland deserves the death penalty.

Speaking at a press conference in Florida just minutes after the jury delivered its recommendation to spare Nikolas Cruz’s life, DeSantis said the only appropriate sentence for the Florida school shooter is the death penalty.

"I think that if you have a death penalty, then that is a case where you are massacring those students with premeditation and utter disregard for basic humanity that you deserve the death penalty,” he said.

The jury deliberated for seven hours before announcing its decision, ending the three-month penalty phase of the case. The judge overseeing the case will formally issue the sentence later.

DeSantis also criticized the long judicial process, saying he was disappointed that it took more than four years for the case to end.

“He's guilty — everybody knew that from the beginning — and yet it takes years and years in this legal system, that is not serving the victims,” said DeSantis, who is running for reelection.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who was Florida’s governor at the time of the shooting, said on Thursday that he was also surprised by the jury’s decision.

"Many of us find it hard to understand how such brutal crimes could be met with anything but the most severe punishment allowed under our laws,” he said. “Today’s decision is not what many of us expected."

Gary Fineout and The Associated Press continued to this report.