FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A juror who voted to spare the life of the Parkland school shooter wrote a letter to the judge on Thursday to deny that she went into deliberations having her mind already made up.
The letter to Broward Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer stated that "this allegation is untrue and I maintained my oath to the court that I would be fair and unbiased."
Jurors decided that school shooter Nikolas Cruz not be sentenced to death and instead spend the rest of his life in prison for killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. He pleaded guilty last October to killing 14 students and three staff members, plus injuring 17 others.
"The deliberations were very tense and some jurors became extremely unhappy once I mentioned that I would vote for life," read the woman's letter to the judge. "I just wanted to make you aware of this matter."
Jury foreman Benjamin Thomas told CBS Miami that he was not in favor of the jury's decision to recommend life in prison but three people were.
"I don't like how it turned out but it's how the jury system works," he told the TV station. "It really came down to a juror who felt he was mentally ill, and because of that she didn't feel he deserved the death penalty."
She did not want to change her position, Thomas continued, adding that "she was a hard no."
Prosecutors in the case called for an investigation after a juror said she felt threatened by another member of the jury during deliberations, according to The Associated Press. The motion calls for law enforcement to interview the unnamed juror after she told the state attorney's office "she perceived to be a threat from a fellow juror while in the jury room."
It's unclear exactly which juror was threatened.
As the verdict was announced, some families of Parkland students and staff who were killed in the shooting appeared upset as it became increasingly likely the shooter would not be sentenced to death.
The parents of Alyssa Alhadeff, who died in the shooting, said they were both "beyond disappointed" and "disgusted" with the jurors' verdict.
"What is the death penalty for?" said Alyssa's father, Ilan, wondering aloud what the point of the death penalty was if it wasn't used to punish someone who gunned down 17 people.