Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial: Gunman's mother sought explanation for son's violent behavior

Jorge Milian and Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post
·4 min read
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FORT LAUDERDALE — Testimony in the death penalty phase of the Nikolas Cruz trial resumed Friday morning in Fort Lauderdale.

This week, the defense team for the Parkland school shooting gunman continues to call witnesses in its effort to win Cruz a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

The team of Broward County public defenders called two witnesses to the stand Thursday, both of them educators who dealt with Cruz in middle school.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz speaks with Assistant Public Defender Tamara Curtis during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings.

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Cruz pleaded guilty in 2021 to killing 17 people and wounding 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The 12-person jury will recommend whether Cruz, then 19 and now 23, is put to death or sentenced to life in prison. If it recommends death, a move that must be unanimous, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will make the final ruling, likely sometime this fall.

The Palm Beach Post is covering the daily proceedings live.

Lynda Cruz told social worker 'something is very wrong' with Nikolas Cruz

Lillian Pardo-Posse, a former social worker for Broward County Schools, read aloud an interview she conducted with Cruz's adoptive mother in 2013 to assess her eldest son's strengths and weaknesses.

"Nik is a loving kid," Lynda Cruz told her.

He was a gentle soul, she said, caring, affectionate, interested in animals and obsessed with Xbox. But he also had trouble reading, expressing himself and interacting with children. He couldn't control his temper.

"He starts screaming, kicking, throwing things, and punching holes in the walls," she said. "When he throws a tantrum, things get broken. Nothing is safe."

A classmate's mother moved her daughter out of Cruz's classroom because she thought he was a "menace to society," according to records from Westglades Middle School.

Liliana Pardo-Posse is sworn in to testify via Zoom during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Pardo-Posse was Cruz’s school social worker at Westglades Middle School. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings.

Lynda Cruz told Pardo-Posse that the walls in her home were "polka-dotted" with spackle from all the holes she'd had to fill. Her son hated to lose, she said, and when he did, he'd start to scream and curse.

"Something is very wrong with him," she said. "I know he has ADD, but that does not explain his behaviors."

Former Broward deputy Jeffrey Smith describes outbursts at Cruz home

Jeffrey Smith, a former deputy with the Broward County Sheriff's Office, said he responded to incidents at the Cruz residence up to five times in the years leading up to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — often for Cruz's younger brother, Zachary.

Cruz's adoptive mother, Lynda, called to report in 2011 that 11-year-old Zachary Cruz was banging on the wall with a baseball bat, hitting furniture and then his mother. The next year, she called because he'd begun "throwing everything around."

Lynda Cruz "always struck me as overwhelmed and ill-prepared to handle the everyday stress of these two boys, no question," Smith said. "She loved her sons very much so."

Capital defense attorney Casey Secor questions Henderson Behavioral Health case manager Tiffany Forrest as she testifies during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Forrest was the Cruz family’s case manager in 2013. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings.

Most of the incidents were called in as domestic disturbances, but Smith said that further investigation usually revealed that it "was less than what it was dispatched as."

Smith said he offered Lynda Cruz "a shoulder to cry on if nothing else," and worked to connect her with mental health services.

"We handled our business and departed," he said.

Social worker Tiffany Forrest: 'Quite a bit of dysfunction' in Cruz home

A social worker testified Friday that she once saw Zachary Cruz get on a table top at his Parkland home and step on food being eaten by Nikolas, his older brother.

"You could see there was quite a bit of dysfunction" in the home, said Tiffany Forrest, who was Nikolas Cruz's youth case manager in 2013.

Forrest said that Lynda Cruz complained that Nikolas was being "bullied" by Zachary and in school.

Henderson Behavioral Health case manager Tiffany Forrest testifies during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. Forrest was the Cruz family’s case manager in 2013. Cruz previously plead guilty to all 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 shootings.

Forrest witnessed Zachary bullying Nikolas but indicated there was no evidence of it taking place at Westglades Middle School, where teachers complained in writing that it was Nikolas acting aggressively toward his classmates.

Lynda Cruz appeared overwhelmed by raising her two adopted children. At one point, she refused to transport the boys together in her minivan because of the chaos that would ensue.

When Lynda would show frustration, the boys' would laugh, Forrest said.

"They thought it was funny," she said.

Jorge Milian is a journalist covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jmilian@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at Caneswatch. Help support our work, subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial: Mom knew ADD diagnosis didn't explain gunman's behavior