British mum of teen Parkland school shooting victim feels let down after jury refused death penalty

The British mother of a schoolgirl callously murdered by Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz has slammed jurors for recommending a life prison sentence in favour of the death penalty.

Anne Ramsay, whose 17-year-old daughter Helena was one of 17 people shot dead in the Valentine’s Day 2018 attack, said she felt ‘let down by the jury’ at the conclusion of the mammoth three-month sentencing trial on Thursday.

‘This animal killed innocent, beautiful kids — and three dedicated teachers — and he got away with it today, as far as I’m concerned,’ Ms Ramsay said.

Helena was born in Portsmouth but her family migrated to the United States when she was young.

Ms Ramsay and relatives of the other 16 victims spent months providing and listening to testimonies about the atrocities that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, on February 14 2018.

She said Cruz remained composed as broken families had to ‘listen to how he came back and finished off our loved ones’.

Helena was born in Portsmouth but her family migrated to the United States when she was young. The ‘beautiful, bright’ teenager was one of 17 shot dead by Nikolas Cruz in the 2018 Parkland school massacre

Anne Ramsay, whose 17-year-old daughter Helena was one of 17 people shot dead in the Valentine’s Day 2018 attack, said she felt ‘let down by the jury’ at the conclusion of the mammoth three-month sentencing trial on Thursday

Cruz appeared anxious as the verdict was read at the conclusion of his three month  sentencing trial on Thursday

‘All 17 families are so angry,’ she said of the verdict. ‘I believe justice was not done… If this murderer had mental problems, he still managed to get an AR15 to mow down our kids.’

Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty to shooting 17 people in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history but his legal team were arguing against the death penalty due to mitigating factors including his difficult upbringing and mental health issues.

While the prosecution painted the picture of a calculating murderer, Cruz’s defence attorney argued he is actually just a ‘broken, brain-damaged’ kid who was doomed in the womb by his birth mother’s drinking and drug use throughout her pregnancy.

There are concerns among victim’s families that the decision not to impose the death sentence will set a ‘dangerous precedent’ and could encourage further mass shootings.

Ms Ramsay also made an appeal directly to President Joe Biden, saying she and her family have been repeatedly ‘re-traumatised’ in the four years since her daughter’s death.

Top Row L-R: Jaime Guttenberg, Nicholas Dworet, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Cara LoughranSecond Row L-R: Alyssa Alhadeff, Luke Hoyer, Joaquin Oliver, Gina MontaltoThird Row L-R: Alaina Petty, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Alex SchachterFourth Row L-R: Helena Ramsey, Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon

Ms Ramsay said Cruz (pictured) remained composed as broken families had to ‘listen to how he came back and finished off our loved ones’

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Corey Hixon, the son of athletic director Chris Hixon who was killed in the mass slaying , walked out of court as the verdicts were read out.  Corey was seen hugging then VP Joe Biden in the aftermath of the slayings

Nikolas Cruz, now 24, pictured in the courtroom on Thursday, as he waits to learn his fate for the 17 murders at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018

‘I’ve listened to countless shootings, one after another, traumatising my family… our neighbourhood,’ she said.

‘We should have had the death sentence given out today because he took 17 lives and he attempted to take 17 more. He planned it meticulously.

‘You have sent the message out there to everyone it’s fine, get an AR15 semi-automatic weapon and you will just get off by pleading that you are insane.

‘It’s been years and years listening to the news, hearing nothing but shootings in this country and today we let someone off that murdered 17 people in cold blood.’

Ms Ramsay suggested the death penalty should be automatically handed to someone who commits such a vile crime. 

She has paid tribute to her ‘bright young girl’, remembering how ‘beautiful and fun she was’.

The heartbroken mother said she never wanted the image of Helena’s memory tainted by images of what Cruz did during his rampage.

‘This has been so exhausting,’ she said. ‘It’s gone on so long, right now I’m drained.’  

Others held their heads in their hands and rocked as they listened to the outcome of the three-month long hearing

Peter Wang’s mother Hui Wang wipes away a tear after the jury rejected a death sentence for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz

Nikolas Cruz, who will soon learn if he’ll receive a death sentence or be sent to prison for life, is seen on security footage inside the school in 2018 when he carried out his rampage. Now, on the second day of deliberations, jurors have asked to view the AR-15 he used in the shootings

Ms Ramsay is not alone in speaking out against the recommended life term of imprisonment. 

Several relatives have branded the decision ‘disgusting’, while many were seen with their heads in their hands as they listened to the outcome in court on Thursday.  

Cruz, pictured, was said to be ‘gun obsessed’. He was armed with at least one AR-15 rifle and had ‘multiple magazines’ when he stormed the school

Ilan Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was shot eight times, said that the decision ‘sets a precedent’ for the next mass killing. 

He said: ‘I’m disgusted with our legal system, I’m disgusted with those jurors. I’m disgusted with the system.’ 

Corey Hixon, the son of athletic director Chris Hixon who also died in the rampage, walked out of court as the verdicts were read out. 

Jurors had to vote unanimously for Cruz to get the death penalty, with the only other option being life in prison without parole. 

Speaking to ABC Local 10 news Benjamin Thomas, the foreman of the jury admitted that more than one person on the panel had a ‘strong opinion’ that he should receive a life sentence. 

He added that he was ‘not happy’ with how it worked out, as he ‘didn’t vote that way’, explaining that one juror was a ‘hard no’ and two others agreed.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer will sentence Cruz on November 1, but will not be able to overturn the decision made by the jury.

The prosecution argued Cruz’s crime was both premeditated as well as heinous and cruel, which are among the criteria that Florida law establishes for deciding on a death sentence.

Back in July during witness testimony, Assistant State Attorney Mike Satz showed the jury and the court the AR-15, which was purchased legally in 2017, that was used in the tragic massacre

Cruz is shown in a taped interview with forensic psychologist Dr. Charles Scott that was shown while Dr. Scott testified during the penalty phase of Cruz’s trial

People are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the shooting

During six hours of deliberation on Wednesday, jurors first asked for a readback of two testimonies and then just before court adjourned for the day, requested to see the AR-15 Cruz used in the shootings. 

There was objection from the Broward Sheriff’s Office on providing the jury with the gun, for ‘security reasons,’ but just before day two of deliberations began on Thursday, it was decided the gun would be shown without the firing pen. 

The gun, which Cruz purchased legally in 2017, was previously shown to the jury during witness testimony back in July. 

Jurors were also shown photos taken of the bodies of five students and a teacher who died on the third-floor, all with multiple wounds from being shot at close range.

Cruz’s massacre is the deadliest mass shooting that has ever gone to trial in the U.S.

Linda Beigel Schulman, Michael Schulman, Patricia Padauy Oliver and Fred Guttenberg all embraced ahead of the verdicts being read out 

Emotional members of the families were seen with their head in their hands as the jury made their way through the list of the 17 victims

Nine other people in the U.S. who fatally shot at least 17 people died during or immediately after their attacks by suicide or police gunfire. 

Cruz, by his own admission, said he began thinking about committing a school shooting while in middle school, about five years before he carried out the Valentine’s Day tragedy. He said he picked Valentine’s Day to make sure it would never be celebrated at the school again.

Almost exactly a year before the rampage, he purchased his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and his planning became serious about seven months in advance as he researched previous mass shooters.

He admitted he tried to learn from their experience.

During closing arguments on Tuesday, attorneys for both sides wrapped up three months of testimony in one last push for either a death sentence or life in prison.

While both prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed the mass killing of 17 people was awful, they differed in their closing arguments about whether it was an act of evil worthy of execution or one of a broken person who should be imprisoned for life.

Gena Hoyer holds a photograph of her son, Luke,  as she awaited the verdicts to be read out in court 

Broward sheriff’s Sgt. Gloria Crespo previously testified that Cruz, then 19, had five gun magazines remaining in the vest, containing 160 total bullets

Surveillance video shows Cruz inside the school in 2018. Jurors retraced Cruz’s path on as he methodically moved from floor to floor, firing down hallways and into classrooms

How families of Parkland shooter victims reacted to jury’s life sentence recommendation  

As the jury recommendation for life in prison was read out in court on Thursday, family and friends of the victims could be seen shaking their heads in the gallery. 

Tony Montalto called the jury’s decision a ‘gut punch’, saying the decision ‘sends the wrong message’

Gina Montalto’s parents began clutching each other’s hands before the reading began, and they started crying through the reading. 

Tony Montalto called the jury’s decision a ‘gut punch’, saying the decision ‘sends the wrong message’.

He said: ‘Pressing the barrel of his weapon to my daughter’s chest. That doesn’t outweigh that Nikolas Cruz had a tough upbringing?

‘I think that it puts all school children in jeopardy. It certainly sends the wrong message. This shooter did not deserve compassion.’

Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son Scott was murdered, branded Cruz an ‘animal’ and described the case as the ‘most perfect death penalty case’.

She added: ‘As far as I’m concerned, the fact that he’s going to go into some sort of general population, he’s going to have to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life.

‘I hope he has the fear in him every second of his life. He should live in that fear and be afraid every second of the day and his life.’

Michael Schuman, Scott’s father,  previously spoke out against the death penalty, but has now slammed Cruz as a ‘monster’ who ‘deserved to die’ after ‘hunting down’ the victims. 

Heartbroken family members cried as they listened to a jury recommend that he be sentenced to life in prison

Jaime Guttenberg’s father and Alaina Petty’s mother were holding their heads in their hands.

Fred Guttenberg said that the families did not receive justice, adding: ‘He is going to go to prison, and he will die in prison. He should have received the death sentence.

‘I hope and pray he receives the kind of mercy from prisoners that he showed my daughter.

‘This decision today only makes it more likely that the next mass shooting will be attempted.’