Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was among the many victims, instructed ABC News Live he had hoped for the death penalty.
“Even the death penalty was not enough for me,” he mentioned. “The way that Joaquin died … the amount of suffering and pain, the shooter will have never received that punishment.”
“But now I have to deal with the fact that this guy … is going to have a chance to have a hobby, and enjoy three meals and, you know, read every single day. I don’t like that. I hope that justice appears in any way at some point.”
Oliver selected to not attend the trial alongside his spouse. He has not determined if he’ll go to court docket on Nov. 1 when victims are given the chance to learn statements.
“I might need to do that, but I don’t know,” he mentioned. “I don’t want to spend more time thinking about this horrendous person, this monster.”
Oliver wrote on Twitter that the sentence sends a nasty message to killers.
“It’s a very bad precedent for the whole nation,” he added to ABC News.
His spouse, Patricia Oliver, instructed ABC News she feels enraged, and mentioned her son didn’t get justice.
To jury members who voted in opposition to the death penalty, she mentioned, “They have to live with that in their conscience. Life is about karma. They will remember what they did when the time comes.”