‘I’m a bad kid. I want to kill!’ Parkland gunman’s teacher says she kept his records in case they’d be needed in future
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The Parkland gunman’s eighth-grade teacher was so troubled by his disturbing schoolwork that she saved a copy for her records in case it was ever needed.
Those documents now provide crucial insight into the mind of a killer-in-the-making after Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day in 2018 — five years after he was an out-of-control student scribbling swastikas, curse words, racial slurs and homicidal stick figures shooting each other in the notebook he used for Carrie Yon’s language arts class at Westglades Middle School.
Yon kept a meticulous record of her interactions with Cruz, knowing from the time she met him that he was going to be a problem. At one point, hoping to encourage better behavior, she told Cruz she knew he could behave and was a good kid. His response was chilling.
“I’m a bad kid,” Cruz told her. “I want to kill!”
That was on Oct. 23, 2013 — less than five years before his shooting rampage in Parkland.
Scary behavior
Yon, who testified over Zoom, said she knew Cruz was a special education student who’d been diagnosed with emotional behavior disorder and was assigned to a speech pathologist. But the things he said and wrote troubled her so deeply that she kept a record of their encounters and dozens of pages of his writings and drawings. She later submitted them to the principal and school district officials.
His behavior scared her, she told jurors. But when she complained to supervisors, she was told he deserved an education and had a right to be in class.
On one page in his notebook, he drew two swastikas and wrote several offensive comments: “N is for n—. B is for b----. A is for anus.” “F--- America.” “I hate this country.”
At the bottom of the page he drew stick figures with guns firing bullets at each other.
On another page he drew a female and male stick figure with a story line that includes the words, “No need to fear the sex boat is here.”
On one assignment he wrote several caustic remarks: “I hate you. I hate America. Life is s---. All it brings it pain and death. There is no point in living.”
‘I hope they die’
When Yon asked him about his worksheets one day, he cursed at her, calling her a “motherf-----.” Another day, he announced: “I hate security. I hope they die.” Two days later, he shouted the f-word in class so she called security to have him removed. Some days he would run screaming from her classroom.
Yon is far from the first witness to testify that she knew Cruz needed more help than he was getting. By pushing the narrative that Cruz needed help at every stage of his life, the defense has managed to demonstrate that the counseling and treatment Cruz was receiving from the time he was 3 years old was failing.
His defense attorneys are barred by court order from presenting that failure as a mitigating factor. But his mental health can be taken into account by the jury as well as his lengthy history of troubling behavior.
Yon described numerous episodes of “insubordinate” and inappropriate behavior, including Cruz hurling expletives at fellow students, mouthing off and yelling the f-word at teachers. One day, when the class was outside for a fire drill, he ran into the street when he saw a car coming, then laughed when teachers yelled at him to get out of the road.
Yon said she got advice from another staff member on how to deal with Cruz — advice she did not take.
The woman told Yon to get in his face and tell him to go ahead and hit her, to show him she was not afraid of him. Yon said she didn’t feel comfortable doing that.
Witness felt pressured not to testify
Tensions grew between the defense and prosecution Thursday when lead defense attorney Melisa McNeill objected to prosecutor Jeff Marcus contacting a defense witness hours before he testified on Thursday afternoon. McNeill requested a 24-hour recess but Judge Elizabeth Scherer denied the request.
John Vesey, a former principal of Westglades, told the court he was contacted by Marcus and a lawyer Vesey knows Thursday morning. Vesey said the men expressed concern that his testimony would “negatively affect individuals within the Broward County School District,” according to a sworn affidavit signed by Vesey.
Vesey said the call made him nervous and uncomfortable. He also said he felt he was being pressured not to testify. Under cross-examination, Vesey said the comment about the impact of his testimony did not come from Marcus but from the other attorney.
Marcus said the defense was mischaracterizing the conversation. The issue is all but certain to resurface as the case continues.
During his testimony, Vesey told jurors Westglades was the wrong environment for someone with Cruz’s behavioral problems, which is why he recommended a transfer to Cross Creek School.
Vesey said he was disappointed to later learn Cruz was attending Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Cruz, 23, has confessed to killing 17 people and attempting to kill 17 others at Stoneman Douglas on Feb. 14, 2018.
He faces the death penalty for each of the 17 murders he committed. Defense lawyers are introducing testimony about Cruz and his mental health in a bid to convince jurors he was in a lifelong battle for control of his own behavior.
A jury’s unanimous vote is required to sentence Cruz to death; otherwise he will be sentenced to life in prison.
The trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan. Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4457 or on Twitter @rolmeda
