The families of the victims have been left angry, baffled and in tears after a jury spared Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty for killing 17 people at a Parkland high school in 2018.
Cruz will spend the remainder of his life in prison with no opportunity for parole.
"If not now, the death penalty, then, when? When? And there is no excuse," Andrea Ghersi, sister of victim Joaquin Oliver, said.
"Shouldn't have been a case at all. No excuse for letting this piece of garbage breathe."
The jury's decision came after seven hours of deliberations over two days, ending a three-month trial that included graphic videos and photos from the massacre and its aftermath, and heart-wrenching testimony from victims' family members.
"After spending months and months, listening and hearing testimonies, and looking at the murderer, his composure, I believe justice was not done," said Anne Ramsay, mother of victim Helena Ramsay. "The wrong verdict was given out today."
Michael Schulman, stepfather of victim Scott Beigel, called Cruz an "animal".
"The last thing my son saw was the gunman aiming at him."
The jury found there were aggravating factors to warrant the death penalty for each victim, however, they also found mitigating factors.
In the end, the jury could not agree that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones.
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