(Reuters) – Jury choice is scheduled to start on Monday for the penalty part of the trial for the person who shot and killed 17 folks, together with 14 college students, at a Parkland, Florida, highschool in 2018.

Nikolas Cruz pled responsible in November to 17 counts of homicide. Now, a jury will decide whether or not he receives life in jail or the demise penalty.

It’s anticipated to take a number of weeks to seat the jury, and this part of the trial might final a number of months, authorized specialists have stated.

Cruz was a 19-year-old expelled pupil with a historical past of psychological well being and behavioral points on the time of the killings, prosecutors stated at his trial final yr.

Below Florida legislation, a jury should be unanimous in its resolution to advocate {that a} choose sentence Cruz to be executed. If any of the 12 jurors objects, Cruz can be sentenced to life in jail with out parole.

Among the many mitigating elements the protection will ask the jury to think about are Cruz’s mind harm from his mom’s drug and alcohol abuse throughout being pregnant, his lengthy historical past of mental-health problems and allegations he was sexually abused and bullied.

Among the youngsters who survived Cruz’s lethal rampage shaped “March for Our Lives,” a corporation that referred to as for gun management laws resembling a ban on assault-style rifles.

In March 2018, the group held a nationally televised march in Washington that sparked a whole bunch of comparable rallies worldwide. Cruz was 18 when he legally bought from a licensed gun vendor the AR-15 fashion rifle used within the capturing.

(This story corrects headline to say “killing 17 folks,” not “17 youngsters”; corrects first sentence to say “killed 17 folks, together with 14 college students,” not “killed 17 college students”)