Parkland jury foreman says verdict came down to one juror. Note cites ‘tense’ talks

The foreman of the 12-person jury that recommended mass school shooter Nikolas Cruz be sentenced to life in prison said one juror was the main catalyst for the rejection of the death penalty.

Benjamin Thomas told Miami Herald news partner CBS Miami that the juror believed Cruz shouldn’t get the death penalty because of his mental illness.

“There was one [juror] with a hard no, she couldn’t do it,” he said. “And there was another two [jurors] that ended up voting the same way.”

For more video on the Cruz trial, go to CBS Miami.

The jury deliberated for more than seven hours on Wednesday before delivering its verdict Thursday morning.

“Everyone has the right to decide for themselves,” Thomas said. “It is a moral decision on their own. Some of the jurors just felt that way.”

READ MORE: What’s next for the death penalty in Florida?

A note to the judge from one of the jurors who voted for life opened a window onto the “very tense” deliberation process happening behind closed doors.

READ MORE: ‘Jurors let us down.’ Parkland school shooter to get life in prison, death penalty rejected

In the note, the juror said other jurors “became extremely unhappy” once she mentioned she was voting to recommend a life sentence and that she was told by another juror that some of them were saying she had made up her mind on the sentence before the trial.

“This allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased,” the juror said in the note. “The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life.”

Thomas, the foreman, told CBS Miami he understood why victims’ loved ones were frustrated by the jury’s decision.

“It hurts,” he said of the families’ reactions to the recommendation. “It didn’t go the way I would’ve liked it or the way I voted, but that’s how the jury system works. Everyone gets their vote; everyone gets to decide.”

Cruz will be formally sentenced on Nov. 1.

READ MORE: What happens after Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz is sentenced? How life or death unfolds

This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 5:55 PM.

Grethel Aguila

Miami Herald

Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.