Photos: The scene from the courtroom at Parkland shooter's sentencing
Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill, mitigation specialist Kate O'Shea, along with other members of the defense team enter the courtroom as the jury begins their second day of deliberations in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Judge Elizabeth Scherer announces that the murder weapon will go back to the jury room to be available during jury deliberations in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table during a hearing just before the jury resumed deliberations in the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz leans against a wall waiting to be escorted from the courtroom as the jury resumes deliberations in the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. A jury said that it has reached a decision on whether to recommend that Cruz be executed for the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Linda Beigel Schulman, Michael Schulman, Patricia Padauy Oliver and Fred Guttenberg, families of the victims, embrace in the courtroom while waiting for an expected verdict in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Gena Hoyer hugs Assistant State Attorney Carolyn McCann in court as they await the jury decision in the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Hoyer's son, Luke, was killed in the 2018 shootings. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Assistant public defender Melisa McNeill, seated with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz touches her hands to her head as the last of the 17 verdicts were read in the penalty phase of Cruz's trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 massacre of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That sentence comes after the jury announced Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that Cruz should be executed. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz tugs at his shirt collar as he is seated at the defense table for the verdict in his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 massacre of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That sentence comes after the jury announced Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that Cruz should be executed. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz appears surprised as he is seated at the defense table for the verdict in his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 massacre of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That sentence comes after the jury announced Thursday that it could not unanimously agree that Cruz should be executed. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Gena Hoyer holds a photograph of her son, Luke, who was killed in the 2018 shootings, as she awaits the verdict in the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Cruz will be sentenced to life without parole for the 2018 massacre of 17 people. That sentence comes after the jury announced that it could not unanimously agree that Cruz should be executed. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Chief Assistant Public Defender David Wheeler puts his arm around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz as they await a verdict in his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Cruz, who plead guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder in the 2018 shootings, is the most lethal mass shooter to stand trial in the U.S. He was previously sentenced to 17 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for 17 additional counts of attempted murder for the students he injured that day. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
Gena Hoyer awaits the verdict in the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022. Hoyer's son, Luke, was killed in the 2018 shootings. Cruz, who plead guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder in the 2018 shootings, is the most lethal mass shooter to stand trial in the U.S. He was previously sentenced to 17 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for 17 additional counts of attempted murder for the students he injured that day. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)
A jury has rejected the death penalty for the shooter in the 2018 massacre that left 17 dead in Parkland, Florida. He will get life in prison.
The move came after a panel found Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer violated several rules governing judicial conduct in last year's trial.