Parkland school shooting verdict: Count 10 in penalty phase is Carmen Schentrup

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer announced on Oct. 13 that a divided jury recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole as punishment for the Parkland school shooter on count 10 of first-degree murder.

Count 10 of 17 in the penalty phase is for the murder of Carmen Schentrup who Nikolas Cruz killed on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, according to Scherer.

Carmen Schentrup would have turned 17 years old on Feb. 21, 2018. (Courtesy photo)

Carmen, 16, a senior, was in her AP Psychology class in room 1213, near a podium, when she was shot three times and died of her wounds, according to Chief Assistant State Attorney Mike Satz.

Dr. Iouri Boiko, a forensic pathologist with the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office, performed the autopsy. Boiko said during his testimony in court on July 22 that she suffered a fatal wound to the head and four other injuries because of the bullets’ fragments.

Carmen, who would have turned 17 on Feb. 21, had already been accepted to the University of Washington and aspired to work as a medical researcher. Her dream was to find a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a neurological disease that affects muscle movement.

Interactive graphic: Understanding the choices jurors made on the verdict form

A court representative reads the Schentrup family’s victim impact statement

Interactive graphic on the penalty phase


About the Author:

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.