Family members of three of the 17 victims of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz gave heartbreaking testimony Monday about how their 2018 deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland have affected their lives, detailing lost loves, lost moments and even faded memories.
Student Joaquin Oliver’s sister looked at Cruz as he left the witness stand, while the families of student Alaina Petty and teacher Scott Beigel appeared to look away from him.
Cruz sat at the defense table, mostly looking down but occasionally looking at the video screen in front of him. The jury also saw three chilling cellphone videos Cruz made in the days before his attack, discussing his plan to kill at least 20 people at Stoneman Douglas, his former high school.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz looks at the defense table during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, U.S., on August 1, 2022 (Photo by Reuters)
They also saw text messages he sent on the day of the attack, Valentine’s Day, to an ex-girlfriend expressing his unrequited love for her and to a friend, asking if he could find her a date that night. He did, but the text telling Cruz arrived just as his Uber was dropping him off at school.
Patricia Oliver, Joaquín’s mother, told the jury of seven men, five women and her 10 alternates that he was a kind and gentle 17-year-old boy who planned to go to college to work in sports management. She was already planning her wardrobe for her graduation in three months, right down to the belt she would wear. He said there was an outpouring of love after his death.
“I never knew I had so many friends,” she said, choking back tears.
“Our life has been shattered and changed forever.” Her older sister, Andrea Ghersi, talked about how when she has children she will have to explain to them why they don’t have an uncle. Hatred filled his face as he glared at Cruz as he returned to his seat.
Patricia Padauy Oliver gives her victim impact statement during the penalty phase of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, on August 1, 2022. (Photo by Reuters)
Victoria Gonzalez brought at least one juror to tears as she talked about losing her “soulmate.” He spoke of his love of cinema, how he would sing on the car radio and how he met her at the bus stop on the morning of her death with Valentine’s flowers and a stuffed yellow elephant.
Petty’s mother, Kelly, said he loved helping out in the kitchen and his short time in the school’s Reserve Officer Training Corps. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he had helped with hurricane recovery the summer before his death.
“She loved her friends, she loved her family and most importantly she loved God,” Kelly Petty said. Her sister, Meghan, said that although Alaina was the baby of four children in her family, she was somehow the eldest, showing a maturity beyond her years. They would snuggle up together to watch TV.
“He was an angel on Earth and should still be here,” he said. She cried as she said she no longer remembered her sister’s voice.
Beigel’s mother, Linda Schulman, and stepfather, Michael Schulman, spoke of his love for teaching, his students and baseball. His mother said he got the teaching job at Stoneman Douglas because he agreed to coach the cross country team, even though he didn’t know how.
Michael Morrison, the former owner of Sunrise Tactical Supply, describes the gun he sold Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz while testifying during the penalty phase of Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tuesday. July 26, 2022 (AP/PTI)
Speaking loudly, Linda Schulman said she told her runners that if they taught her about cross country, she would teach them about life. When his runners just missed qualifying for the state meet, they asked him what they could do next time. She laughed when he said he told them, “Run faster.” This remains the motto of the team. Michael Schulman said that when he told Scott he wanted to marry his mother, he said his only response was, “All I ask is that you make my mother happy.”
Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder in October, meaning the jury will only decide whether he is sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. Jurors on Monday saw the three cellphone videos he made six days before his attack.
In the first two, it is not visible. Only his voice is heard. “Today is the day. Everything starts today. The day of my massacre will begin,” he said in the first. In the second, he says, “When you see me on the news, you’ll all know who I am. You’ll all die. … I can’t wait.”
In the final video, taken three days before the shooting, Cruz, wearing a ball cap, speaks to the camera and says he’s “going to be the next school shooter in 2018.” The video ends with gunshots.
In text messages, beginning about 90 minutes before the attack, Cruz tells his ex-girlfriend he loves her and asks “Do you want me to leave?” She replied, “You’re scaring me and I want you to leave me alone. .” She told him she had a boyfriend. He said he didn’t care. When she got to school, he texted her back that he loved her.
Meanwhile, a friend he had spent several hours texting about possibly getting him a date that night also replied that he had found a girl who would go out with him. This text also arrived as Cruz was arriving at school. “Too late man,” Cruz replied.
Three minutes later, the attack began. When jurors get the case, they will vote 17 times, once for each of the victims, on whether to recommend the death penalty. it’s life Jurors are told that in order to vote for death, the prosecution’s aggravating circumstances for that victim must, in their judgment, “weigh” the defense’s mitigators. A jury can also vote for Cruz’s life in mercy. During jury selection, the panelists said under oath that they were capable of voting for either sentence.