Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial live updates, Day 15: Gunman was 'never right,' neighbor says

FORT LAUDERDALE — Wednesday marks the 15th day of the sentencing trial of Nikolas Cruz, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to killing 17 people and wounding 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, 2018.

Prosecutors pushing for the death penalty rested their case against Cruz on Aug. 4 after 12 days of emotional testimony and graphic evidence of the shooting and its aftermath. Jurors returned to the courtroom this week to hear, for the first time, Cruz's defense in favor of life in prison.

The 12-person jury will recommend whether Cruz, then 19 and now 23, is put to death or sentenced to life in prison without parole. If it recommends death, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will make the final ruling, likely sometime this fall.

Follow along for live coverage of Wednesday's hearing.

'Disturbing on a number of levels': Jurors tour preserved crime scene at Stoneman Douglas High

Anything but 'normal': Lives of Parkland victims' families marked by absence, anguish, sorrow

Looking ahead: The prosecution is done. Now, Nikolas Cruz's attorneys must work to save his life.

Cruz was 'never right,' neighbor says

Steven Schusler lived across the street from the Cruz family in Parkland from 2009 to 2015, and he thinks of those six years in three periods: the beginning, when he met Cruz; the middle, when he was friendly with him; and the end, when he was cautious.

"This is Niki," a neighbor said when she introduced Schusler to Cruz one day. "He's the weird one."

The comment hit Cruz like salt on a snail, Schusler said. His face scrunched up and sunk inward.

"You could see that something's just not right," Schusler said.

He said he saw Zachary, Cruz's brother, skating and playing with other boys across the street while Schusler worked on his motorcycle. Cruz never skated, Schusler said. He always seemed to stand apart from the rest.

Schusler described an odd moment he saw Cruz running outside of his home and firing an airsoft gun "spasmodically." The way he ran was lurching and flailing, like a 2-year-old who couldn't yet walk, Schusler said. He demonstrated it for the jurors.

Schusler said he called the public defender after he watched Cruz's guilty plea on the television. He said it was important to him that they know: "This boy did not go bad. He was never right."

Psychologist says 8-year-old Nikolas Cruz 'stuck out like a sore thumb'

Dr. Frederick Kravitz, a retired clinical psychologist, told jurors that he met with Nikolas Cruz when he was 8 years old. Cruz's adoptive mother Lynda was concerned about his temper and anxiety, the doctor said. He looked and acted years younger than he was, and he "stuck out like a sore thumb."

Cruz was a "very peculiar child," he said.

He was at varying times hyperactive, aggressive, fearful and withdrawn, and he had a "very active bad imagination." He was terrified that his mother would forget to pick him up from school and leave him there, stranded.

When asked if Lynda Cruz seemed embarrassed of her sons, Kravitz nodded. He said she felt judged by other parents, which may have made it harder for her to engage in treatment. He coached her on how to discipline them but said she often threw up her hands instead.

"I think she truly loved these boys, but I do think she was overwhelmed," Kravitz said of Cruz's mother. "And somewhat depressed, since her husband had passed away."

Her sons pushed her buttons as much as they pushed each other's, he said. Zachary, Cruz's brother, was a "tremendous instigator behind the scenes."

Cruz was diagnosed with ADHD, Kravitz said, and his symptoms were consistent with that. But he had some autistic qualities, too, like his aversion to eye contact and self-isolation. The doctor didn't know how much of that was due to the fact that he'd been bullied by his peers.

During their one-on-one interactions, Cruz was compliant, Kravitz said. The doctor coached him on what to do when he got upset: press your knuckles together to keep from hurting others, Kravitz said, and count to 10.

"Of course, we all know how this ended," said prosecutor Jeff Marcus.

Marcus asked: Was there anything about his behavior that foretold what was to come?

Kravitz shook his head. He's worked with other damaged children in the past, he said, and none has done something like this.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Nikolas Cruz trial: Neighbor says gunman didn't 'go bad. He was never right.'