Nikolas Cruz sentencing - live: Child psychologist recalls ‘difficult’ and ‘peculiar’ Parkland shooter

The defence for Nikolas Cruz, the man convicted of shooting dead 17 people and injuring 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018, began its case at his sentencing trial on Monday.

Jurors heard from Cruz’s sister Danielle Woodard who entered the court in handcuffs and flanked by law enforcement after being allowed to leave jail to testify in her brother’s defence.

Woodard said her brother was “polluted” in the womb by their shared biological mother who was an alcoholic and drug addict. The jury also heard from teachers, a family friend, and a clinical psychologist who treated Cruz as a child.

Cruz’s defence is seeking to show that foetal alcohol spectrum disorders and a troubled upbringing contributed to his actions when he embarked on one of the deadliest school massacres in US history back on Valentine’s Day 2018.

In October 2021, Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.

Jurors will now decide if he is sentenced to death or to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Key points

• Chilling jailhouse drawings show Cruz saying he wants to ‘go to death row’

• Florida jury urged to spare shooter’s life

• Defence says Cruz’s ‘brain is broken’ from mother’s drinking

• Cruz was aggressive from young age, court hears

15:12 , Oliver O'Connell

Dr Kravitz says he felt that Ms Cruz needed help with parenting as she was overwhelmed by being a single mother to two difficult sons now that her husband had passed.

Just as the boys knew how to push each other’s buttons, they also knew how to wind her up. She told him she would lose her cool and felt judged by others.

While Dr Kravitz gave Ms Cruz strategies to practice with Nikolas, he didn’t think they were put into practice at home and that Ms Cruz would too readily give in. He also recalls that Nikolas had problems articulating how he felt and would get frustrated and throw things.

He also thought the sessions he had with the mother and son were too far apart and not consistent enough to be able to change Nikolas’ behaviour.

Dr Kravitz described Nikolas as a “peculiar” child who “stuck out like a sore thumb” compared to other children of his age — he appeared younger.

Witness: Dr Frederick Kravitz

14:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Court has resumed on Wednesday morning in Fort Lauderdale with a new witness for the defence — Dr Frederick Kravitz.

Dr Kravitz is a retired clinical psychologist with approximately 40 years of experience primarily with families and children.

He treated Nikolas Cruz when he was eight to nine years old in 2007/8 when he was brought in by his mother Lynda Cruz.

Childhood pictures of Cruz shown to jury

14:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Childhood photos of Nikolas Cruz posing with his family were displayed in court amid the sentencing trial for the Florida school shooter

The trial has revealed how Cruz’s childhood experiences led him to become isolated and insecure.

Arguments by defence attorneys began on Tuesday by building on testimony that cocaine and alcohol abuse by Cruz’s birth mother when she was pregnant had left him severely brain damaged.

Stuti Mishra reports.

Childhood pictures of Parkland school killer Nikolas Cruz shown to jury

Chilling jailhouse drawings show Nikolas Cruz saying he wants to ‘go to death row’

14:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Chilling jailhouse drawings and notes have revealed Nikolas Cruz saying he wants to “go to death row” and then be “buried with a woman who had a s***ty life like me”.

Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) released a trove of disturbing sketches and ramblings which were scrawled by the mass murderer while he is being held behind bars in Broward County Jail.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Nikolas Cruz’s chilling jailhouse drawings released

The Parkland Massacre: Missed warning signs, failings, and lessons learned

13:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Almost 70 documented incidents of violence by age 19. Boasts online of being “the next school shooter”. Tips about threatening behaviour ignored by the FBI. Unlocked and unmanned gates at the school. Students and staff left to wander hallways while no active shooter alert was made. A school resource officer who hid from the gunfire for more than 45 minutes.

Nearly everything that could have gone wrong that day did.

Missed warning signs, failings and lessons learned: Nikolas Cruz and Parkland

Defence says Nikolas Cruz has been in contact with Sandy Hook victim’s mother

13:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz has been in contact with the mother of a Sandy Hook victim, the defence has told his sentencing trial.

Public defender Melisa McNeill said during her opening statement that Cruz had been in touch with Scarlett Lewis. Her son Jesse, 6, was killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on 14 December 2012, when 20 children and six staff members were murdered.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Nickolas Cruz has been communicating with mother of Sandy Hook victim

Nikolas Cruz’s sister says he came from ‘polluted womb’

12:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Nikolas Cruz’s sister told his sentencing trial that he came from the “polluted womb” of their mother who put her addiction to drugs and alcohol “before anything else”.

Danielle Woodard was the second witness to testify for the defence on Monday as Cruz’s legal team seek to argue that he suffers from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and other anti-social behavioural disorders caused in part by his mother drinking and taking drugs while pregnant.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Nikolas Cruz’s sister says brother came from ‘polluted womb’

A timeline of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

10:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Nikolas Cruz, the man convicted of shooting dead 17 people and injuring 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018, is now facing a sentencing trial for his crimes.

Cruz – a former student at the institution who was a member of its air rifle team and had a lengthy disciplinary record – was just 19 when he arrived that day in an Uber bearing a legally-purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and gunned down 14 students and three members of staff in what proved to be one of the deadliest school massacres in American history.

Here is how the tragedy unfolded.

A timeline of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

Who was the Parkland shooter’s biological mother Brenda Woodard?

08:00 , Oliver O'Connell

During opening statements and testimony from the first defence witnesses called to the stand, much of the blame for Nikolas Cruz’s troubled start in life was placed squarely on the shoulders of his biological mother Brenda Woodard.

Who was she?

Who was the Parkland shooter’s mother Brenda Woodard?

Florida school shooter was intellectually slow, say witnesses

06:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz as a toddler was intellectually and physically behind other children, which caused him to isolate himself and hit and bite to get what he wanted, a daycare administrator and former neighbor testified Tuesday at his penalty trial for mass murder.

Testimony: Florida school shooter was intellectually slow

Nikolas Cruz scrawled ‘666’ on prison cell with blood

05:23 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The Parkland school shooter had scrawled “666”, known as the number of the “devil”, with his own blood on his prison cell wall ahead of the sentencing, new chilling images show.

“I do not want life please help me go to death row!!!” Nikolas Cruz wrote on one of 33 pages of writings and doodles.

He also wrote: “I do not want to be bothered by anyone or anything, I can’t wait to die. Blood, blood. I only wanna see blood.”

According to reports, the words “Hail Satan!” were also found written alongside drawings of faces and pentagrams.

Chilling jailhouse drawings show Nikolas Cruz saying he wants to ‘go to death row’

04:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Chilling jailhouse drawings and notes have revealed Nikolas Cruz saying he wants to “go to death row” and then be “buried with a woman who had a s***ty life like me”.

Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) released a trove of disturbing sketches and ramblings which were scrawled by the mass murderer while he is being held behind bars in Broward County Jail.

Rachel Sharp reports on the 30 pages of incoherent rambling.

Nikolas Cruz’s chilling jailhouse drawings released

Nikolas Cruz’s team says his brain is ‘irretrievably broken’ because of mother’s drinking

02:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Nikolas Cruz’s defence team said that his brain is “irretrievably broken” because of his biological mother’s drinking and drug-taking while pregnant, as they urged jurors not to sentence the Parkland mass shooter to death.

Attorneys for Cruz delivered opening statements in his defence on Monday morning, as they began their case at his sentencing trial in Broward County, Florida.

Nikolas Cruz team says his brain is ‘irretrievably broken’ as he fights death penalty

Who is Zachary Cruz, the Parkland shooter’s brother?

Wednesday 24 August 2022 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell

The brother of Parkland mass shooter Nikolas Cruz is believed to be starring in a reality show about his life and was previously charged with trespassing at the school where his brother murdered 17 innocent people.

Zachary Cruz, 22, is expected to testify for the defence in Cruz’s sentencing trial, where a jury will decide whether to give him to life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Who is Zachary Cruz? Parkland shooter’s brother to testify at trial

What are fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and does the Parkland shooter have one?

Wednesday 24 August 2022 00:00 , Oliver O'Connell

At the centre of the defence’s case asking jurors to spare Nikolas Cruz’s life is their argument that birth defects, anti-social behaviour disorders and a troubled upbringing all contributed to him carrying out what remains one of the worst mass shootings in US history.

On Monday, the defence argued that he suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) caused by his biological mother abusing alcohol and drugs while pregnant.

What is FASD?

Nikolas Cruz: What are fetal alcohol spectrum disorders?

The Parkland massacre: Missed warning signs, failings, and lessons learned

Tuesday 23 August 2022 23:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Almost 70 documented incidents of violence by age 19. Boasts online of being “the next school shooter”. Tips about threatening behaviour ignored by the FBI. Unlocked and unmanned gates at the school. Students and staff left to wander hallways while no active shooter alert was made. A school resource officer who hid from the gunfire for more than 45 minutes.

Nearly everything that could have gone wrong that day did.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Missed warning signs, failings and lessons learned: Nikolas Cruz and Parkland

Florida school shooter was intellectually slow, say witnesses

Tuesday 23 August 2022 22:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz as a toddler was intellectually and physically behind other children, which caused him to isolate himself and hit and bite to get what he wanted, a daycare administrator and former neighbor testified Tuesday at his penalty trial for mass murder.

Testimony: Florida school shooter was intellectually slow

Tuesday 23 August 2022 22:21 , Oliver O'Connell

Following Mr Newnham’s testimony, the jury is excused for the day.

Watch: Parkland school shooter called himself 'stupid’ and a ‘freak’

Tuesday 23 August 2022 22:09 , Oliver O'Connell

Tuesday 23 August 2022 21:40 , Oliver O'Connell

After a short afternoon break, direct examination of Mr Newnham concludes.

The prosecution now begins its cross-examination of the school family counsellor.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 21:02 , Oliver O'Connell

On some occasions, elementary school-aged Cruz would get into conflict with other students.

He was also something of a perfectionist with his written work and would erase and rewrite multiple times until the pencil broke.

Mr Newnham said he recalled Cruz having negative perceptions of himself and referred to himself as a “freak”. He was aware of being different from other students and felt that they judged him.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 20:36 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Cruz did not appear to be able to handle Cruz’s tantrum when they happened and was reluctant to discipline either of her sons.

Mr Newnham says he believed she was “somewhat fearful” of them.

In one-on-one sessions with Cruz he was able to develop some rapport between them though it took longer than with most children. He says they go to the point where Cruz would make eye contact with him, which previously he would not.

In group sessions, Cruz was shy and unwilling to participate and would sit quietly.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 20:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Cruz was a “shy, somewhat fearful student” at the school Mr Newnham says.

He would shrink away from contact and would avoid eye contact.

After his adoptive father died, Lynda Cruz confided that she felt overwhelmed, frustrated, and isolated taking care of the two boys, who would often get into conflict with other children in the neighbourhood as well as adults.

“I got the impression that she didn’t utilise the support that was offered to her,” Mr Newnham told the court.

He provided advice and made recommendations for therapy and other sources of help, including in-home counselling for Cruz, and the county’s resources for people with troubled children.

With all the help offered, Ms Cruz would return with the same problems and he would give the same recommendations. Mr Newnham says he was under the impression that she did not follow through with his advice.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 20:07 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Newnham was connected with Cruz at Coral Springs Elementary School.

He met with Mr Cruz and Mrs Cruz first to discuss their son.

Cruz was placed in a “cluster” with other students and received speech and language classes as well as counselling.

These clusters were staffed by a teacher and an assistant and at times another aide.

Witness: John Newnham

Tuesday 23 August 2022 19:56 , Oliver O'Connell

A new witness is testifying via Zoom. He is John Newnham, formerly of the Broward County Public Schools system.

He was a school family counsellor for the district from 1995 until 2021 under various titles.

In order to receive his services, a student would have to be designated as having an emotional behavioural disorder.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 19:21 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Westerlind returns to the witness stand.

She confirms that she and Cruz speak on the phone four or five times a week as a mother who knew him from childhood. She says that she will continue to stay in touch with him no matter what the sentencing.

“I remind him that his mother loved him more than anything,” Ms Westerlind said. “Obviously, she would be very upset with him, but she would still be there for him.”

Tuesday 23 August 2022 18:46 , Oliver O'Connell

Court resumes with both sides arguing for the admissibility of a statement by Ms Westerlind before the break for lunch.

The jury is yet to be brought back in.

Before the break, Ms Westerlind said she was told by Cruz’s mother Lynda that he was sexually abused by a family friend as a teenager and she was therefore surprised to find that he had been sent to live with that family following his mother’s death.

Defence argues it is a mitigating factor and the prosecution says it is hearsay.

The judge has sided with the prosecutors.

Chilling jailhouse drawings show Parkland shooter saying he wants to ‘go to death row’

Tuesday 23 August 2022 18:09 , Oliver O'Connell

Chilling jailhouse drawings and notes have revealed that Nikolas Cruz says he wants to “go to death row” and then be “buried with a woman who had a s***ty life like me”.

Broward Sheriff’s Office released a trove of disturbing sketches and ramblings scrawled by the mass murderer while he is behind bars in Broward County Jail.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Nikolas Cruz’s chilling jailhouse drawings released

Tuesday 23 August 2022 17:32 , Oliver O'Connell

After a lengthy sidebar during Ms Westerlind’s testimony regarding where the Cruz brothers went to live following the death of their adoptive mother Lynda, the judge calls a lunch break.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 16:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Westerlind says that her daughter, who was several months younger than Cruz, surpassed him developmentally in social and motor skills.

When his younger brother Zachary was adopted and came to live with the family, she also recalls him growing larger than Cruz.

A group of similar-aged children formed in the neighbourhood who would play together. Cruz would go and hide, for example behind the blinds, while the other kids played.

She recalls being concerned about Cruz’s behaviour but Lynda did not see anything wrong with her son and was not receptive to suggestions that he might need extra help.

Eventually, Lynda’s husband Roger insisted they took him to a specialist.

Witness: Trish Devaney Westerlind

Tuesday 23 August 2022 16:36 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness following the break is Trish Devaney Westerlind, a family friend of Cruz’s late adoptive mother Lynda who lived down the street from the family.

She says her friend Lynda was “very loving, motherly, caring” and doted on both Cruz and his brother Zachary. When she adopted both she felt her family was complete. Ms Westerlind says Lynda would help her with her own children who the same ages as the boys.

This is in stark contrast to Monday’s witnesses’ descriptions of Cruz’s biological mother, Brenda Woodard.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 16:02 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Fischer’s testimony has concluded.

Court is on a mid-morning break.

Tuesday 23 August 2022 15:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Further, Ms Fischer met with Cruz’s mother Lynda to recommend that she seek additional help for him. At first, she was resistant.

“As a parent, you want your child to be perfect,” Ms Fischer said. “Especially with what she did to become a parent.”

She adds that Lynda “would give the kids the world if she could” and she came around to the idea of getting Cruz additional help.

“She did the best she could with the knowledge that she had.”

‘It’s nothing you did’

Tuesday 23 August 2022 15:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Fischer recalls telling Lynda Cruz, Cruz’s adoptive mother: “It’s nothing you did” when referring to his behaviour and development as a very young child.

She tells the court that as a young boy he could struggle to grasp things such as spoons and crayons. He would fall down a lot when running and his legs were often bruised.

Ms Fischer also suspected he had hearing problems and would try and test his hearing by crouching behind him and whispering.

Cruz would often sit by the wall closest to the door when there were activities involving loud noises or music. He would appear overwhelmed she recalled.

He would also rock back and forth in his high chair and avoid eye contact.

Witness: Anne Fischer

Tuesday 23 August 2022 15:17 , Oliver O'Connell

The first witness called on Tuesday is Anne Fischer.

She was the director of Young Minds Learning Center, a pre-school that Cruz attended.

Ms Fischer speaks well of Cruz’s adopted parents and their efforts to give him the best start in life.

She recalls one-year-old Cruz having slow developmental progress and there were incidents of biting other children. In addition, she says he had difficulties communicating and transitioning between activities.

He was often expressionless and would isolate himself until he saw another child with a toy he wanted, at which point he would hit the toy out of the child’s hand and take it.

Who was the Parkland shooter’s biological mother Brenda Woodard?

Tuesday 23 August 2022 14:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Nikolas Cruz, the gunman convicted of killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day 2018, is currently being sentenced for the massacre and could face the death penalty.

On Monday, the 23-year-old’s defence team began its case where attorneys will try to convince the jury in Broward County to sentence him to life in prison instead of death.

At the centre of their case is the argument that he is mentally ill and that his troubled origins are to blame for his actions – which saw him lay siege to his former school with a legally-purchased AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle in one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history.

During opening statements and testimony from the first defence witnesses called to the stand, much of the blame for his troubled start in life was placed squarely on the shoulders of his biological mother Brenda Woodard.

So who was she?

Who was the Parkland shooter’s mother Brenda Woodard?

Cruz displayed ‘animal fantasy’ behaviour, his preschool teacher says

Tuesday 23 August 2022 14:01 , Rachel Sharp

Susan Hendler-Lubar, a former special education teacher and witness for the defence, said she met Nikolas Cruz when he was a preschool student in an Exceptional Student Education program for children.

Ms Hendler-Lubar told the court that Cruz had a developmental delay and language impairment at the age of three and once she noticed Cruz engaging in “animal fantasy” behaviour.

“Those behaviours looked like curling his hands into paws, hissing, scratching out, scaling furniture, and so that was pretty unusual to see that,” the teacher said.

She continued: “Nikolas had a lot of aggressive behaviours and he had limited expressive language. He also had some fine motor problems.

“Nikolas would push children, would scratch at them, would topple over furniture and would stay away from other children. If they got too close to him, he would basically pounce.”

Cruz has been in contact with Sandy Hook victim’s mother, says defence

Tuesday 23 August 2022 13:00 , Rachel Sharp

Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz has been in contact with the mother of a Sandy Hook victim, the defence has told his sentencing trial.

Public defender Melissa McNeill said during her opening statement that Cruz had been in touch with Scarlett Lewis. Her son Jesse, 6, was killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on 14 December 2012, when 20 children and six staff members were murdered.

“You will hear that he talks and has video visitations with a woman by the name of Scarlett Lewis whose six-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was murdered in Sandy Hook,” Ms McNeill told the jury in the defence’s opening statement.

“And you will hear through those conversations that together, her and Nick are trying to find a way to prevent this from ever happening again.”

The Independent’s Gustaf Kilander has the full story:

Nickolas Cruz has been communicating with mother of Sandy Hook victim

Nikolas Cruz’s sister says brother came from ‘polluted womb’

Tuesday 23 August 2022 12:00 , Rachel Sharp

Nikolas Cruz’s sister told his sentencing trial that he came from the “polluted womb” of their mother who put her addiction to drugs and alcohol “before anything else”.

Danielle Woodard was the second witness to testify for the defence on Monday as Cruz’s legal team seek to argue that he suffers from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and other anti-social behavioural disorders caused in part by his mother drinking and taking drugs while pregnant.

The mass killer’s older sister was led into court in handcuffs flanked by law enforcement officers as she awaits trial over an alleged carjacking of an elderly woman.

Woodard shares the same biological mother as Cruz – Brenda Woodard – but they did not grow up together as Cruz was adopted as a baby by Lynda and Roger Cruz while Woodard lived on and off with their mother.

She testified that her brother was born from their mother’s “polluted womb”, telling jurors that she saw her mother smoke cigarettes, drink and smoke crack while pregnant with him.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Nikolas Cruz’s sister says brother came from ‘polluted womb’

Remembering the victims

Tuesday 23 August 2022 11:00 , Rachel Sharp

Seventeen people were killed in the Parkland massacre back on Valentine’s Day 2018.

The 14 students killed were: Alyssa Alhadeff, Martin Duque, Nicholas Dworet, Jaime Guttenberg, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup and Peter Wang.

The three adults killed were: Scott Beigel, Chris Hixon and Aaron Feis.

Read their stories here:

Parkland victim’s widow speaks out as victims remembered