Nikolas Cruz pleads guilty on all counts

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FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - 7News has learned that the suspect in the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School will plead guilty.

Rather than going to trial, 23-year-old Nikolas Cruz will plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and all 17 counts of attempted murder in the Valentine’s Day shooting that killed 17 people and wounded more than a dozen others.

Cruz had already confessed to the killings of students and staff at the Parkland school on Feb. 14, 2018.

Cruz’s defense team said their client would plead guilty for life in prison without parole if prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. That offer had been denied by prosecutors. The Public Defender’s Office told 7News they could not confirm nor deny that Cruz would in fact be pleading guilty.


Cruz’s attorneys will officially announce their client’s plea on Friday.

Rather than going to trial, the case is expected to proceed to the penalty phase. A jury will then be tasked with deciding whether Cruz receives the death penalty or life in prison.

7News has also learned that Cruz will also plead guilty to battery on a Broward County jail guard back in November 2018. Surveillance video first obtained by 7News showed Cruz rushing and punching Sgt. Raymond Beltran in a brawl that lasted nearly a minute before coming to an end.

Would be a shame if he does, I was looking forward to the trial. We could've snatched some goodies (evidence) if he pleaded not guilty.

I'm guessing he's doing this for a more lenient sentence. Still, I would've thought he'd try to drag the proceedings out as long as possible. There aren't many benefits to speeding things up after all. Hopefully things get more interesting in the sentencing phase, but I'm not holding my breath.

This is very shocking to hear that he's pleading guilty. Maybe he truly is sorry for what he's done. But then again, like the person above me said, maybe he's doing this out of hope that he'll avoid the death penalty.