The penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz began on Monday, the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.On Monday, the lead prosecutor began opening statements by detailing minute-by-minute how Cruz committed the deadly shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.The prosecutor focused on showing Cruz’s malice and intent to cause death and purposeful destruction at the school — reading out posts and videos he had put online days before the shooting.The defense chose not to make opening statements.Three witnesses took the stand on Monday — a teacher and two students from the high school.Among the first witnesses was Danielle Gilbert, a junior who was in psychology class when the shooting began. The teacher told students to get behind her desk.“We were sitting like sitting ducks. We had no way to protect ourselves,” said Gilbert, who is now a student at the University of Central Florida.The jury was then shown cellphone video Gilbert took inside the classroom. The footage began with a girl curled up beneath the teacher’s desk and others, including Gilbert, mostly unseen as they crouch behind it. About two dozen shots that seemed to be coming from just outside the door are heard in rapid succession as the fire alarm sounds. An unseen wounded boy cries out twice, “Someone help me.”The gunshots get further away, but the students remain quiet and huddled, speaking only in whispers. Eventually, the voices of police officers can be heard approaching. The teacher stands up, holding her head.“They’re coming, they’re coming, we’re OK,” a boy whispers.Videos and 911 tapes replayed the shooting as families and witnesses got emotional. At one point, families could be heard asking the judge to stop the video.Cruz hid his face for most of the day.A jury of seven men and five women were sworn in to decide whether Cruz, 23, should be sentenced to death or get life in prison, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates. Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment. They must be unanimous for Cruz to get the death penalty — if at least one votes for life, that will be Cruz’s sentence.The penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz began on Monday, the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.A jury of seven men and five women were sworn in to decide whether Cruz, 23, should be sentenced to death or get life in prison, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates. Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment. They must be unanimous for Cruz to get the death penalty — if at least one votes for life, that will be Cruz’s sentence.Jury selectionThe jurors currently on the main panel are two banking executives and two technology workers, a probation officer, a human resources professional and a Walmart store stock supervisor. Also included are a librarian, a medical claims adjuster, a legal assistant, a customs officer and a retired insurance executive. The jury selection was filled with setbacks and possible mistrials over the questioning of possible jurors and COVID-19 cases on the defense. The defense asked to delay the trial because of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead. McNeill’s team argued that the shooting has again raised emotions in Broward County and makes it impossible for Cruz to get a fair trial currently.Many of the possible jurors were not able to hold seat because of the time commitment for the lengthy process.Full Recap: Jury sworn in to sentencing trial for Parkland high school shooterPleading guilty to all chargesCruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the deadly shooting.Legal analysts said Cruz’s plan to plead guilty to all charges in the Parkland shooting — along with the guilty plea in a battery on a jail guard charge — is a calculated move by his attorneys for him to avoid the death penalty.Video below: Cruz pleads guilty in courtBy pleading guilty to killing 17 people and attempting to kill 17 more in 2018, legal experts said Cruz is hoping to convince the jury that he is taking some responsibility for his actions.”He’s trying to save his life, and the only way to do that is to take responsibility and not put all these poor people through a trial,” criminal defense attorney Marc Shiner said. Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the country often take two years to start because of their complexity, but Cruz’s was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extensive legal wrangling.If Cruz is sentenced to death, that will still not be the end of the process. Death sentences in Florida are given automatic priority review by the Florida Supreme Court. Trial preparationsTrial preparations were extensive for what was expected to be the biggest murder trial in Broward County history for one of the most infamous crimes in Florida history.Cruz was arrested about an hour after the attack with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle on Valentine’s Day 2018.Video below: Body camera of arrest of Nikolas Cruz releasedHis lawyers repeatedly offered to plead guilty in return for a guaranteed sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors refused to drop their pursuit of the death penalty.Video below: Cruz interrogation video releasedMuch of the penalty phase is expected to focus on Cruz’s mental condition at the time of the slayings, with prosecutors emphasizing their horrific nature and Cruz’s intensive planning beforehand. Victims of the Parkland school shootingSeventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.Can’t see the graphic? Click here.Settlement with Broward School DistrictThe Broward County School District will pay more than $26 million to the families of the victims.Board members approved the two legal settlements on in December 2021.A total of $25 million will be shared by 51 plaintiffs, including families of the 17 dead as well as students and staff who were injured. Another $1.25 million will be paid in one lump sum to Anthony Borges, who suffered some of the most severe injuries.Video below: Nikolas Cruz outlines shooting plan in video recordingFour years after shootingFor many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.Students and families turned into activists.’I still can’t believe this is my reality’: Parkland parent creates way to track school violence after son is killed in school shootingJim Gard, a math teacher that day, said they were all victims.”These kids that were in the class, just because they weren’t hit doesn’t mean they weren’t hit,” he said.And since that day, so many of those victims have refused to just sit back and do nothing. In the days following the shooting, a movement called March For Our Lives was born.David Hogg was one of the founders.”When we started doing the march, we thought there would be about 90 people that we could get up to D.C.,” Hogg said. “We got near a million.”Video below: Father of Parkland victim hangs banner in view of White House four years after shootingFour years later, March For Our Lives is still going strong with chapters across the country.They’ve helped pass state laws designed to keep guns away from violent offenders. They’ve worked to get more federal funding to control gun violence.’I have to accomplish her dream’: Hunter Pollack changes career path after sister is murdered in Parkland massacreIt’s become a full-time job nobody wants.”We want our job to be done so we can go back to being college students or high school students and young people and young professionals,” Hogg said.When they watched the Parkland shooter plead guilty to the murders he committed, both Hogg and Gard are pleased to see this chapter end.Video below: School safety changes made following Parkland school shootingThey just ask you not to call it closure.”It’s the parents of the kids, the parents who lost their children, I don’t know if there can ever be closure on that,” Gard said. “I know for a lot of the people that I talked to, families that I talked to, there is not closure that can come. There’s nothing that will ever bring their kids back, their siblings back, their best friends back.”If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, call 211 or the National Suicide Hotline at 988.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz began on Monday, the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.
On Monday, the lead prosecutor began opening statements by detailing minute-by-minute how Cruz committed the deadly shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The prosecutor focused on showing Cruz’s malice and intent to cause death and purposeful destruction at the school — reading out posts and videos he had put online days before the shooting.
The defense chose not to make opening statements.
Three witnesses took the stand on Monday — a teacher and two students from the high school.
Among the first witnesses was Danielle Gilbert, a junior who was in psychology class when the shooting began. The teacher told students to get behind her desk.
“We were sitting like sitting ducks. We had no way to protect ourselves,” said Gilbert, who is now a student at the University of Central Florida.
The jury was then shown cellphone video Gilbert took inside the classroom. The footage began with a girl curled up beneath the teacher’s desk and others, including Gilbert, mostly unseen as they crouch behind it. About two dozen shots that seemed to be coming from just outside the door are heard in rapid succession as the fire alarm sounds. An unseen wounded boy cries out twice, “Someone help me.”
The gunshots get further away, but the students remain quiet and huddled, speaking only in whispers. Eventually, the voices of police officers can be heard approaching. The teacher stands up, holding her head.
“They’re coming, they’re coming, we’re OK,” a boy whispers.
Videos and 911 tapes replayed the shooting as families and witnesses got emotional. At one point, families could be heard asking the judge to stop the video.
Cruz hid his face for most of the day.
A jury of seven men and five women were sworn in to decide whether Cruz, 23, should be sentenced to death or get life in prison, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates.
Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment. They must be unanimous for Cruz to get the death penalty — if at least one votes for life, that will be Cruz’s sentence.
The penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz began on Monday, the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.
A jury of seven men and five women were sworn in to decide whether Cruz, 23, should be sentenced to death or get life in prison, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates.
Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted murder, so the jurors will only decide his punishment. They must be unanimous for Cruz to get the death penalty — if at least one votes for life, that will be Cruz’s sentence.
Jury selection
The jurors currently on the main panel are two banking executives and two technology workers, a probation officer, a human resources professional and a Walmart store stock supervisor. Also included are a librarian, a medical claims adjuster, a legal assistant, a customs officer and a retired insurance executive.
The jury selection was filled with setbacks and possible mistrials over the questioning of possible jurors and COVID-19 cases on the defense.
The defense asked to delay the trial because of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead. McNeill’s team argued that the shooting has again raised emotions in Broward County and makes it impossible for Cruz to get a fair trial currently.
Many of the possible jurors were not able to hold seat because of the time commitment for the lengthy process.
Full Recap: Jury sworn in to sentencing trial for Parkland high school shooter
Pleading guilty to all charges
Cruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the deadly shooting.
Legal analysts said Cruz’s plan to plead guilty to all charges in the Parkland shooting — along with the guilty plea in a battery on a jail guard charge — is a calculated move by his attorneys for him to avoid the death penalty.
Video below: Cruz pleads guilty in court
By pleading guilty to killing 17 people and attempting to kill 17 more in 2018, legal experts said Cruz is hoping to convince the jury that he is taking some responsibility for his actions.
“He’s trying to save his life, and the only way to do that is to take responsibility and not put all these poor people through a trial,” criminal defense attorney Marc Shiner said.
Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the country often take two years to start because of their complexity, but Cruz’s was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extensive legal wrangling.
If Cruz is sentenced to death, that will still not be the end of the process. Death sentences in Florida are given automatic priority review by the Florida Supreme Court.
Trial preparations
Trial preparations were extensive for what was expected to be the biggest murder trial in Broward County history for one of the most infamous crimes in Florida history.
Cruz was arrested about an hour after the attack with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle on Valentine’s Day 2018.
Video below: Body camera of arrest of Nikolas Cruz released
His lawyers repeatedly offered to plead guilty in return for a guaranteed sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors refused to drop their pursuit of the death penalty.
Video below: Cruz interrogation video released
Much of the penalty phase is expected to focus on Cruz’s mental condition at the time of the slayings, with prosecutors emphasizing their horrific nature and Cruz’s intensive planning beforehand.
Victims of the Parkland school shooting
Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.
Can’t see the graphic? Click here.
Settlement with Broward School District
The Broward County School District will pay more than $26 million to the families of the victims.
Board members approved the two legal settlements on in December 2021.
A total of $25 million will be shared by 51 plaintiffs, including families of the 17 dead as well as students and staff who were injured. Another $1.25 million will be paid in one lump sum to Anthony Borges, who suffered some of the most severe injuries.
Video below: Nikolas Cruz outlines shooting plan in video recording
Four years after shooting
For many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.
Students and families turned into activists.
‘I still can’t believe this is my reality’: Parkland parent creates way to track school violence after son is killed in school shooting
Jim Gard, a math teacher that day, said they were all victims.
“These kids that were in the class, just because they weren’t hit doesn’t mean they weren’t hit,” he said.
And since that day, so many of those victims have refused to just sit back and do nothing. In the days following the shooting, a movement called March For Our Lives was born.
David Hogg was one of the founders.
“When we started doing the march, we thought there would be about 90 people that we could get up to D.C.,” Hogg said. “We got near a million.”
Video below: Father of Parkland victim hangs banner in view of White House four years after shooting
Four years later, March For Our Lives is still going strong with chapters across the country.
They’ve helped pass state laws designed to keep guns away from violent offenders. They’ve worked to get more federal funding to control gun violence.
‘I have to accomplish her dream’: Hunter Pollack changes career path after sister is murdered in Parkland massacre
It’s become a full-time job nobody wants.
“We want our job to be done so we can go back to being college students or high school students and young people and young professionals,” Hogg said.
When they watched the Parkland shooter plead guilty to the murders he committed, both Hogg and Gard are pleased to see this chapter end.
Video below: School safety changes made following Parkland school shooting
They just ask you not to call it closure.
“It’s the parents of the kids, the parents who lost their children, I don’t know if there can ever be closure on that,” Gard said. “I know for a lot of the people that I talked to, families that I talked to, there is not closure that can come. There’s nothing that will ever bring their kids back, their siblings back, their best friends back.”
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, call 211 or the National Suicide Hotline at 988.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
