Nikolas Cruz, the gunman of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, pleaded guilty Wednesday of killing 17 individuals, avoiding a possible death sentence.

Florida High School Shooting Suspect Pleads Guilty

According to NPR, the 23-year-old, Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty of shooting 14 students and three staff of a High School in Parkland, Florida, avoiding a trial but setting up a fight over his punishment for the 2018 shooting incident. The defense team of Cruz hoped that their recent move would place the Florida gunman away from a possible death sentence that prosecutors were seeking.

The gunman, Cruz, faced 17 charges of first-degree murder and an additional 17 charges of attempted murder. The suspect had initially pleaded not guilty to all of the crimes, but his attorneys recently said they would not contest his guilt, dodging a possible death sentence.

Instead of the prosecutor's target outcome, the group of public defenders who represented Cruz has asked the court to sentence the Florida shooting gunman to 17 life sentences.

In court Wednesday, Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer read each name of the murder victim aloud in court before she asked Cruz how he wished to plead. Cruz replied "Guilty" 17 times to each victim's name.

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Nikolas Cruz Asks Forgiveness From the Victims' Families

After his plea was accepted, Cruz apologized for his actions and said directly to the families of the victims that he now wanted to help other individuals.

Cruz stated that he was very sorry for what he did and he had to live with it every day. The gunman also admitted that he experienced nightmares most of the time. He shared that he was doing the change for the victim's families, and he said that he loves them despite knowing that he is hated by them.

The statement of Cruz came after prosecutors entered a chilling account of the shootings into the record. Lead prosecutor Michael Satz described the actions of Cruz on Valentine's Day in 2018. Satz said that Cruz brought an AR-15 style rifle to the school he formerly attended and began firing at students in hallways and classrooms.

Furthermore, the lead prosecutor also laid out the tragic and horrifying details of how each individual died or was injured during the shooting incident. Satz also mentioned the victims' ages and where they were in the school building when they were shot, emphasizing that many of them were repeatedly shot by Cruz.

On a Zoom video conference from the courthouse, relatives of the victims could be seen weeping after hearing the details of how their loved ones died.

On the other hand, the long-running case is headed to the sentencing phase of the trial, which would be presented before a jury. In that part of the proceedings, jurors would be hearing testimonies from witnesses and would review evidence.

The jury selection for the sentencing phase would start on January 4, 2022.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: 'I Can't Live With Myself': Nikolas Cruz Pleads Guilty To Parkland Shooting -NBC News