Parkland school shooter wanted to ruin Valentine’s Day forever: ‘No one would love me’
- Nikolas Cruz told a psychologist he chose that date to massacre 17 people so no one at the school would ever celebrate it again
- A US jury must decide whether to sentence the gunman, who has pleaded guilty to the Florida killings, to death or life without parole
Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz calmly told a psychologist why he picked Valentine’s Day to massacre 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School four years ago: because no one loved him, he wanted to ruin the holiday forever for anyone associated with the school.
Prosecutors began wrapping up their rebuttal case on Thursday by playing that video clip from jailhouse interviews Cruz did with their psychologist hoping it bolsters their contention that he was not driven to kill by a mental disorder he could not control, but planned his attack and chose to carry it out.
They are trying to convince jurors they should sentence Cruz, 24, to death for the February 14, 2018, massacre at the suburban Fort Lauderdale school. He pleaded guilty a year ago.
For the former Stoneman Douglas student to receive a death sentence, the seven-man, five-woman jury must be unanimous. Otherwise, his sentence will be life without parole.
Cruz’s lawyers have contended throughout the trial that his birth mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy left him with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, causing brain dysfunctions that led to lifelong episodes of bizarre, erratic and sometimes violent conduct that culminated with the shootings.