Nikolas Cruz’s defense team said his brain was “irreversibly damaged” by his biological mother’s drinking and drug use while she was pregnant, as they urged jurors not to sentence the mass shooter to death.
Cruz’s attorneys made opening statements in his defense Monday morning as they began their case at his sentencing trial in Broward County, Florida.
Lead public defender Melissa McNeil acknowledged that “there is no defense for this crime” and that Cruz is “the only person responsible for all the pain and suffering” caused by the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre.
But while he was the one who “brutally murdered 17 people”, Ms McNeil said all the “choices” he made that day began with the “choices” made by his biological mother, Brenda Woodard, when she ” she poisoned him in the womb.”
“His brain is broken. He is a damaged human being,” she said.
She detailed how his mother – who gave him up for adoption – was homeless, an alcoholic, a drug addict and working as a prostitute when she became pregnant with him.
Jurors will hear from witnesses – including Cruz’s biological sister and Ms Woodard’s ex-boyfriend and co-defendant – about how she continued to drink, take drugs and smoke during her pregnancy, the lawyer said.
It was also “well documented” in official records about his mother, she said, claiming that she “not only drank alcohol, but abused it,” she said.
“His prenatal vitamins consisted of … boom wine, crack cocaine and cigarettes,” she said.
“Because of that, his brain is irretrievably broken.”
The lawyer added: “By the time she gave birth to her baby, she was living on the streets, drinking, doing drugs, selling her body.”
Ms McNeill said Cruz suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), telling jurors they needed to “understand the person behind the crime” before deciding whether he “lives or dies”.
Nikolas Cruz on August 17, 2022 at his sentencing hearing in Broward County Florida
(AP)
Cruz was adopted by Linda Cruz and Roger Cruz – who later adopted his brother Zachary Cruz, with whom he shares the same biological mother.
Cruz’s disturbing behavior began to show at an early age when he began spending time with other children, his attorney said.
He began receiving special education services from the age of three, received psychiatric help and was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, she said.
“He was seeing a psychiatrist. He was seeing a clinical psychologist. He had a case manager. Home services. However, he continued to struggle with behavioral problems and academic problems,” Ms McNeill said.
Cruz moved around several schools and went to Marjory Stoneman in January 2016
Ms McNeill said experts knew he “never should have gone” to a mainstream high school and when he got there he struggled “behaviourally, socially and academically” and “drank petrol”.
In February 2017 – a year before the massacre – he was sent to an adult education centre.
At one point he developed an “obsession with firearms” and – despite his psychological problems – his mother bought him a BB gun. She later went with him to a gun store to buy his first firearm.
Public Defender Melissa McNeil makes the defense’s opening statement
(AP)
Linda Cruz died three months before the November 2017 school shooting.
“I stand before you today in a space filled with overwhelming sadness, grief, anger and trauma,” she said.
“We’ve all seen and heard things that no one should see or hear. Things that will haunt us forever.
“And everyone sitting here in this courtroom knows that there is one person responsible for all the pain and suffering and that person is Nikolas Cruz,” she said, pointing to him in the courtroom.
The lawyer said his legal team will show them “more about who Nikolas Cruz is … who shaped him … who wasn’t around to shape him.”
“We need to understand the person behind the crime … by telling you about his life, we’re going to give you reasons to live,” she said, saying the defense would provide mitigating circumstances as to why Cruz should live.
Four years after the massacre, Cruz continues to exhibit disturbing behavior, including writing “666 on the walls of his cell,” his attorney said.
“One day he wants to live and one day he wants to die,” she said.
Ms McNeil told jurors they were deciding whether the mass murderer “lives or dies”, saying they each had to decide on an “individual” basis whether or not to sentence him to death or life in prison .
The jury must unanimously decide on the death penalty for him to receive the death sentence. If only one juror reaches a life sentence, then he will receive a life sentence, not death.
During the opening statement, Cruz was seen making comments to one of the other members of his legal team.
On February 14, 2018, Cruz traveled to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and carried out one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.
The 14 students killed in the massacre were: Alyssa Alhadeff, Martin Duque, Nicholas Durrett, Jaime Gutenberg, Luke Heuer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsey, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup and Peter Wang.
The three adults killed were: Scott Bagel, Chris Hickson and Aaron Feis.