Nikolas Cruz has been in contact with Sandy Hook victim’s mother, defence tells sentencing trial

‘Through those conversations ... her and Nick are trying to find a way to prevent this from ever happening again,’ public defender says

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.

Cruz has been convicted of killing 17 people and injuring 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018.

Ms McNeill and her defence team are arguing that Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison instead of receiving the death penalty.

At the age of 19, Cruz was behind one of the deadliest school shootings in the history of the US. He pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is shown at the defense table with Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill (AP)

Assistant Public Defender Melisa McNeill gives the defense's opening statement during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz (AP)

Cruz studied at Stoneman before being sent to an adult learning centre in February 2017.

Ms McNeill told the jury in her opening statement that “we're going to show you the good, the bad, the sad, the horrible the gut-wrenching”.

“You're going to hear that Nikolas has said a lot of really bad things. The evidence will show you that he draws a lot of bad things and that he continues to do that stuff over at the Broward County Jail,” she added. “You will hear about conversations that he has with other people. Sounds like a kid.”

“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. “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.”

Scarlett Lewis, mother of 6-year-old Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis, speaks with media after jurors return a punitive damages verdict of $45.2 million against Alex Jones at the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas, U.S. August 5, 2022 (REUTERS)

“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,” she said.

“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 added.