The convicted Parkland school shooter is scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison this week, following final statements from the families of the 17 people he killed.
A two-day hearing is scheduled to begin Tuesday that will conclude with Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer formally sentencing Nikolas Cruz for his Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Because the jury at his penalty trial could not unanimously agree on a death sentence, Scherer can only sentence the killer to life in prison without parole — an outcome most of the families criticized.
After the convicted killer is sentenced this week, he will be transferred from the Broward County jail to the state correctional system's processing center near Miami, then later to a maximum-security prison, his lawyers have said.
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PARKLAND SHOOTER TRIAL
What will the Parkland shooter's living conditions be like in prison?
Ron McAndrew, a former Florida prison warden, believes that because of the killer's notoriety, officials at that prison will place him in “protective management," separated from other inmates, to keep him from being harmed.
Once in prison, the Parkland shooter's cell will be 9 feet by 12 feet with a bed, metal sink and metal toilet, McAndrew said. Florida prisons do not have air conditioning.
For one hour a day, he will be allowed alone into an outdoor cage that usually measures 20 feet by 20 feet where he can exercise and bounce a basketball.
McAndrew noted that because the killer has a life sentence, he will be last in line for education and rehabilitation programs.
Will the Parkland shooter always be in protective management?
The killer will be kept in protective management until prison officials believe it is safe to place him into the general population, a process that could take years, McAndrew said. It is also possible that Florida could send him to another state in exchange for one of its notorious prisoners, so both could have more anonymity.
McAndrew says eventually, Cruz will be placed in the general population. He will be required to bunk, work and mingle with other prisoners.
At 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds, Cruz could have difficulty defending himself — though he did attack and briefly pin a Broward jail guard.
It is possible a more physically imposing prisoner could become his protector — “but that comes with a horrible price,” McAndrew said.
Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son, teacher Scott Beigel, was murdered by Cruz, said she hopes Cruz “has the fear in him every second of his life just the way he gave that fear to every one of our loved ones whom he murdered, or the students and people that he harmed."
The Florida Department of Corrections declined to comment.
