ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Fred Guttenberg, the father of 14-year-old Jaime who was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, wants a jury to sentence the gunman to death.
It's one of the penalty options facing 23-year-old Nikolas Cruz, the confessed killer who admitted his guilt to a judge Wednesday. A jury also could consider having him spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.
"My daughter should be living the best years of her life. My son heard his sister get shot, and his life is forever impacted," Guttenberg told CBS News ahead of Wednesday's hearing. "My wife and I had two children."
"That killer took this from us, and I want that killer to pay for this with his life," he said.
Anthony Borges, who was shot multiple times but survived, spoke with WSVN-TV and said he accepted Cruz's spoken apology. He added it wasn't his decision to make as to whether Cruz should live or die.
School board member Debbie Hixon, whose husband Chris was killed in the shooting, said a place in hell is waiting for Cruz.
"This an individual who’s not able to be rehabilitated, I don’t think he’s remorseful at all and I don’t think he should suck up one more resource of our community, he’s taken enough from us," she told WFOR-TV.
Hearings for the penalty phase of the trial are scheduled into the next couple of months, with testimony beginning possibly as early as January.
"Today we saw a cold and calculating killer confess to the murder of my daughter Gina and 16 other innocent victims at their school," Tony Montalto said. "His guilty pleas are the first step in the judicial process but there is no change for my family."
"Our bright, beautiful, and beloved daughter Gina is gone while her killer still enjoys the blessing of life in prison," he said.