Nikolas Cruz’s team says his brain is ‘irretrievably broken’ because of mother’s drinking as he fights death penalty

Defence says there is ‘no defence for this crime’ but Nikolas Cruz’s ‘choices’ all began with the ‘choices’ made by his biological mother Brenda Woodard

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.

Lead public defender Melisa McNeill acknowledged that “there is no defence for this crime” and that Cruz is the “one person responsible for all the pain and suffering” caused by the massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day 2018.

But, while it was him who “viciously murdered 17 people”, Ms McNeill said that the “choices” he made that day all began with the “choices” made by his biological mother Brenda Woodard when she “poisoned him in the womb”.

“His brain is broken. He is a damaged human being,” she said.

She detailed how his mother – who put him up for adoption – was homeless, an alcoholic, drug addict and working as a prosititue when she fell pregnant with him.

Jurors will hear from witnesses – including Cruz’s biological sister and Ms Woodard’s former friend and codefendant – about how she continued to drink, take drugs and smoke during her pregnancy, the attorney said.

It was also “well-documented” in official records about his mother, she said, claiming that she was “not only drinking alcohol but abusing it”, she said.

“His prenatal vitamins consisted of... Bum wine, crack cocaine and cigarettes,” she said.

“Because of that his brain is irretrievably broken.”

The attorney added: “At the time she gave her baby up she was living on the streets, drinking, drugging, selling her body.”

Ms McNeill said that Cruz suffered from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) as she told jurors they must “understand the person behind the crime” before they decide if he “lives or dies”.

Nikolas Cruz on 17 August 2022 at his sentencing trial in the Broward County Courthouse in Florida (AP)

Cruz was adopted by Lynda Cruz and Roger Cruz – who then later adopted his brother Zachary Cruz, with whom he shares the same biological mother.

Cruz’s concerning behaviour began to show at a young age when he started spending time with other children, said his attorney.

He began receiving special education services from the age of three, was given psychiatric help and has been diagnosed with anti-social personality disorders, she said.

“He was seeing a psychiatrist. He was seeing a clinical psychologist. He had a case manager. In-home services. However he continued to struggle with behavioral issues and academic issues,” said Ms McNeill.

Cruz moved around multiple schools and went to Marjory Stoneman in January 2016

Ms McNeill said that experts knew that he “never should have gone” to a mainstream high school and when he arrived there he struggled “behaviouraly, socially and academically” and “drank gasoline”.

In February 2017 – one year before the massacre – he was sent to an adult learning centre.

At some point, he developed an “obsession with firearms” and – despite his psychological issues – his mother bought him a BB gun. She later went with him to a gun store to purchase his first firearm.

Public Defender Melisa McNeill gives the defence's opening statement (AP)

Lynda Cruz died three months before the school shooting in November 2017.

“I stand before you today in a space filled with overwhelming sadness, painstaking grief, anger and trauma,” she said.

“We have all seen and heard things that no one should have to see or hear. Things that will haunt us forever.

“And everyone sitting here in this courtroom know that there is one person responsible for all the pain and suffering and that person is Nikolas Cruz,” she said, pointing at him in the courtroom.

The attorney said that his legal team will show them “more about who Nikolas Cruz is... who shaped him... who wasn’t around to shape him.”

“We must understand the person behind the crime... in telling you about his life we will give you reasons for a life,” she said, saying that the defence will provide mitigating circumstances around why Cruz should live.

Four years on from the massacre, Cruz continues to show disturbing behaviour including writing “666 on his cell walls”, his attorney said.

“One day he wants to live and one day he wants to die,” she said.

Ms McNeill also told the court that Cruz is in contact with the mother of a Sandy Hook victim as – together – they want to prevent similar massacres from happening in future.

The attorney said that Cruz has spoken with Scarlett Lewis whose six-year-old son Jesse was one of 26 victims murdered in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on 14 December 2012.

“You will hear about conversations that he has with other people. Sounds like a kid,” she said.

“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. 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.”

She added: “You’ll hear that one day he wants to live and one day he wants to die, and you will also hear that throughout his life he has had obsessions ... videogames, guns, exercise, bowel movements, vegan diets. And most recently, demons and Satan.

“And you will hear that with an atomic fireball candy, he’ll write on his cell wall ‘666’. Those are the things he does in isolation. You’ll hear that he writes disturbing things, like a school shooter manifesto. Horrible. We’re not hiding that from you. But his brain is broken. He’s a damaged human being and that’s why these things happened.”

Ms McNeill told jurors that it is down to them to decide whether the mass killer “lives or dies”, saying that each of them must make the decision on an “individual” basis as to whether or not to sentence him to death or to life in prison.

Jurors must unanimously decide on the death penalty for him to receive a sentence of death. If just one juror reaches a verdict of life in prison then he will receive a life sentenece rather than death.

During the opening statement, Cruz was seen making comments to one of the other members of his legal team.

On 14 February 2018, Cruz travelled to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and carried out one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.

The 14 students killed in the massacre 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.