Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz formally sentenced to life in prison | USA TODAY

Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz received multiples life sentences in prison from a judge after a jury declined to recommend the death penalty.

RELATED: Parkland shooting victims’ families address Nikolas Cruz before sentencing

Two days of emotional hearings concluded Wednesday when a judge sentenced Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz to life in prison without parole.

The sentence, handed down by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, was a formality after a jury last month voted to spare Cruz of the death penalty. Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of murder.

In the two days preceding the Judge’s decision, anguished family members of victims verbally condemned Cruz and levied criticisms at defense attorneys.

The life sentence comes more than four years after the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, in which Cruz shot and killed 17 people and injured others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The jury’s decision was met with dismay and disgust by the victims’ family members, the last of whom spoke Wednesday before Scherer passed down the sentence.

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