NIKOLAS CRUZ WILL be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the fatal shooting of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida after the jury could not unanimously agree 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, 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 sentence later.

Cruz, his hair unkempt, largely sat hunched over and stared at the table as the jury’s recommendations were read.

Rumblings grew from the family section — packed with about three dozen parents, spouses and other relatives of the victims — as life sentences were announced. Many shook their heads, looked angry or covered their eyes.

Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty a year ago to murdering 14 students and three staff members and wounding 17 others on 14 February 2018.

Cruz said he chose Valentine’s Day to make it impossible for Stoneman Douglas students to celebrate the holiday ever again.

Lead prosecutor Mike Satz kept his case simple for the seven-man, five-woman jury. He focused on Cruz’s eight months of planning, the seven minutes he stalked the halls of a three-storey classroom building, firing 140 shots with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, and his escape.