BREAKING UPDATE: Jury chickens out on death penalty for Parkland, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz:

BREAKING: Jury Verdict – LIFE without parole for #NikolasCruz in the #ParklandSchoolShooter trial.

Cruz avoids the death penalty for killing 17 in a mass school shooting on Valentine's Day 2018.

Jury deliberated approx. 7.5 hours. pic.twitter.com/5Po6PIyVYO

— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) October 13, 2022

The jury gave Cruz life without parole. No justice was done today in a Florida courtroom.

AP story:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the jury said Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that he should be executed.

The jury’s recommendation came after seven hours of deliberations over two days, ending a three-month trial that included graphic videos, photos and testimony from the massacre and its aftermath, heart-wrenching testimony from victims’ family members and a tour of the still blood-spattered building.

Under Florida law, a death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will formally issue the life sentences Nov. 1. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak at the sentencing hearing.

Video replay: