Topline
More than 20 former students and teachers testified Tuesday against Nikolas Cruz, the confessed gunman that killed 17 in a 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, as attorneys provided new audio recordings of the shooting and photos of gunshot wounds in the death penalty case.
Prosecutors urged the jury to consider the death penalty against Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who … [+]
Key Facts
Dara Hass, an English teacher at the high school, said she remembered shaking and her students screaming at the sound of gunshots, which injured several students in her class, in her testimony on the second day of the sentencing trial against Cruz.
Several former students injured in the shooting, including Isabel Chequer, Samantha Fuentes and Samantha Grady, took to the stand, saying they did not realize they had been shot amid the initial shock of hearing gunfire, and seeing their friends and classmates lying dead near the end of what had been a typical day at school.
Audio released by students who recorded the shooting on their cell phones included screaming and cries for help from wounded students, as bullets rattled through the hallways.
The defense has not yet presented its case, although defense attorneys previously argued Cruz, who is now 23 years old, should be spared from the death penalty for showing remorse, despite prosecutors repeatedly denying attempts to take the death penalty off the table.
Prosecutors opened the sentencing hearing Monday by arguing for the death penalty, calling the attack “planned” and “systematic.”
Cruz must face a sentencing trial to determine whether he should face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, even though he pleaded guilty to the charges, under Florida law.
Key Background
Cruz, a former U.S. Army Junior ROTC cadet, had been expelled from the school a year before the shooting — the largest school shooting in U.S. history — for undisclosed disciplinary reasons. He confessed the murders to the police the day of the shooting. Days later, a portrait of a disturbed 18-year-old surfaced, including online posts that indicated he may have been plotting the attack for months. The shooting re-ignited a nationwide movement for gun reform, led by a group of survivors that formed advocacy groups March for Our Lives and Never Again MSD. Former Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed a gun bill into law one month later, raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21, while also arming some teachers pending local approval. Cruz pleaded guilty in April to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder for the killing of 14 students and three staff members on Feb. 14, 2018.
What To Watch For
The trial resumes Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. ET.
Further Reading
‘Cold’ And ‘Calculated’: Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty For Parkland School Shooter (Forbes)
‘Someone help me.’ Victim’s pleas, thundering gunfire on video shake courtroom on opening day of Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting trial (South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/07/19/they-heard-something-they-never-heard-beforeparkland-shooting-victims-give-harrowing-testimony-at-sentencing-trial/