Childhood pictures of Parkland school killer Nikolas Cruz shown to jury during sentencing hearing

Trial to determine if Nikolas Cruz gets death sentence or life in jail

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.

They argued this had put him on a road that led to him murdering 14 students and three staff members at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 14 February 2018.

Lawyers also delved into the shooter’s childhood after photos of his younger self posing with the family and going to pre-school were shown.

Attorneys said profound mental problems were recognised early on in Cruz, but never properly addressed.

Testimony from Cruz’s pre-school teacher revealed he got into fights with other kids, barely spoke and sometimes acted like an animal.

“I should have done a little more, to make him a better person,” said Anne Marie Fischer, former director of Young Minds Learning Center, the preschool attended by Cruz.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, which the witness has circled in blue, is shown with classmates in an undated photo at Young Minds Learning Center (AP)

Ms Fischer, who ran the daycare centre that Cruz attended when he was a year old, said he did not progress as fast as other children and was smaller than them.

Ms Fischer also said he was intellectually and physically behind other children and she flagged concerns to his adoptive parents and to the state early learning officials.

She said while the other toddlers could ask for their water cups and use a spoon, Cruz could not. She said he would fall down when he tried to run and his head and ears seemed disproportional to his body.

“He isolated himself a lot. He would sit in the corner and observe,” Ms Fischer said. “Because of his language delays, it was easier to use your hands because you didn’t have the words to express yourself.”

He pushed other kids because he “didn’t know how to express himself,” she said.

Cruz is on trial to determine whether he should be punished by death or life in prison for the 17 murders he committed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 14 February 2018.

Defence lawyers hope that by explaining the defendant’s history he could be saved from a death sentence or his serving time could be reduced.