. On Thursday, a juror wrote a letter to the judge calling the deliberations "tense," saying some jurors became "extremely unhappy" when she mentioned she'd vote for life in prison. And in an interview, the jury foreman described disagreement among the panel, saying three of the 12 jurors opposed the death penalty in this case.
Cruz had admitted to killing 14 students and three school staff members and injuring 17 others in the Valentine's Day 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Because Cruz pleaded guilty to all counts -- 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder -- the trial phase was skipped and the court went directly to the sentencing phase.was read aloud in court Thursday, jurors stared straight ahead or gazed into their laps.
In the letter, the juror also denied allegations that she made up her mind to vote for life in prison before the trial began, saying she heard other jurors had made such accusations about her. "There was one with a hard 'no' -- she couldn't do it. And there was another two that ended up voting the same way," Thomas said. The woman who was against it "didn't believe, because he was mentally ill, he should get the death penalty," Thomas said.