‘Doomed from womb’ or cold-blooded killer? Lawyers plead for the life and death of the Parkland gunman

FORT LAUDERDALE — Editor’s note: Daily coverage of the Parkland trial is being provided to all readers as a public service. Some of the descriptions in this article may be disturbing to some readers. Please use discretion.

What he did was cold. Calculated. Purposeful with shocking and deadly impact, prosecutors say.

He was “doomed from the womb,” broken, brain-damaged and mentally ill, defense lawyers say.

Before a packed courtroom filled with the families of 17 slain victims, spectators and news media, attorneys in the Parkland mass shooting trial made their final pleas for justice to a Broward jury on Tuesday: life in prison or death for confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz.

“It was a systematic massacre,” prosecutor Mike Satz said, arguing for the death penalty.

[ RELATED: What life is like on death row: Possible future for Parkland school killer ]

With every word, the veteran prosecutor reminded jurors not only of the horror inflicted on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus on Feb. 14, 2018, but also of the intensive amount of planning, premeditation and determination it took to make it happen.

The high level of detail is needed, legally, for prosecutors to convince jurors that Cruz meets the requirements that justify the death penalty. Jurors must be unanimous in their recommendation of death. Otherwise Cruz will be condemned to life in prison.

Defense lawyer Melisa McNeill stood in front of a table holding stacks of documents that have been introduced into evidence. As her closing argument began Tuesday afternoon, she sought to portray the defendant as a “vulnerable, mentally ill adult,” responsible for his actions but undeserving of death.

She repeatedly called him “Nikolas,” saying state prosecutors had sought to “demonize” him and had resisted even uttering his name in court.

[ RELATED: Parkland gunman was not as mentally challenged as his defense portrayed, prosecution says in rebuttal ]

Sentencing Cruz to life, not death, is “the right thing to do,” she said. “The state of Florida wants to put you in a place of hate, of anger and of vengeance … The law that we all live by tells us that we must not make decisions based on passion, emotion or anger.”

Cruz, uncharacteristically, sat in the courtroom Tuesday morning without the large-framed glasses he’s been wearing throughout the trial. During closing arguments, he repeatedly brought his hand to his head, glancing at the jury and occasionally staring off into space. He returned from a lunch break in the afternoon wearing the glasses again.

Defense lawyers, in a bid to elicit sympathy from the jury, have presented witnesses who said Cruz has suffered from brain damage since birth. Because his mother drank and did drugs while pregnant, Cruz was left with limited mental capacity, experts for the defense have testified. His ability to plan, long-term, and to fully appreciate the consequences of his actions, was inhibited. He’s guilty, defense lawyers admit. But he was born “broken.”

Satz purposely sought to undermine that argument.

“Hate is not a mental disorder,” Satz told the jury.

[ RELATED: Parkland shooter: ‘We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know.’ ]

Cruz, now 24, bought his AR-15 style rifle nearly a year before his deadly rampage, Satz said. He accumulated ammunition and the magazines to hold them. He bought a vest to hold the magazines, and attachments to make the weapon easier to handle. He researched previous mass shootings, including Aurora, Las Vegas and Columbine. He googled how long it would take police to respond to a school shooting.

“It was goal-directed,” Satz said. “It was calculated. It was purposeful.”

Satz did not dwell on any single murder. Cruz killed 17 people. Each was singled out separately, from the first, Gina Montalto in the first-floor hallway, to Peter Wang, gunned down outside the third-floor stairwell. “His head blew up like a watermelon,” Satz said. Without elaborating, he reminded jurors of the gruesome testimony, the graphic pictures, and the blood-stained hallways of the school.

Lori Alhadeff, Broward school board member and mother of Stoneman Douglas victim Alyssa Alhadeff, was overcome with emotion as Satz described Alyssa’s death and had to leave the courtroom. The remaining victims’ families, some of whom have been here for all or most of the trial, sat stoically through the state’s presentation.

[ RELATED: ‘His brain was irretrievably broken’: Florida school shooter was damaged even before birth, defense attorney says ]

When Satz played surveillance video of the shooting, it was with one instruction to the jury.

“I just want you to see how tactical and purposeful his actions are,” he said.

Playing the video wasn’t necessary, McNeill countered. Jurors cannot help but remember the evidence or the testimony of the family members who poured their hearts out on the stand, eliciting tears even from the defense team. McNeill’s voice broke as she reminded jurors of their victim impact statements.

“What we did was show you who Nikolas Cruz is, not just what he did,” she said. “They have done everything they can to dehumanize Nikolas Jacob Cruz. They don’t even call him by his name.”

[ RELATED: Parkland gunman: A lost and lonely killer ]

McNeill reminded jurors of the words of a neighbor who knew something was off with Cruz right away: “That boy didn’t go bad. He was never right.”

The prosecution’s closing arguments ended with Satz reciting the names of the dead: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Scott Beigel, 35; Martin Duque Anguiano, 14; Nicholas Dworet, 17; Aaron Feis, 37; Jaime Guttenberg, 14; Christopher Hixon, 49; Luke Hoyer, 15; Cara Loughran, 14; Gina Montalto, 14; Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alaina Petty, 14; Meadow Pollack, 18; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alexander Schachter, 14; Carmen Schentrup, 16; and Peter Wang, 15.

Satz choked up at one point while reciting the names.

He then looked at the jurors and left them with these words: “The appropriate sentence for Nikolas Cruz is the death penalty.”

[ RELATED: The voice of the Parkland gunman has been silent in front of the jury. Until the prosecution’s rebuttal. ]

McNeill asked the jury for a mercy her client did not display while he stalked the halls of Stoneman Douglas, hunting down victims.

“You can show Nikolas Cruz all the things he did not show,” including compassion and mercy. “Look into your heart. Look into your soul. The right thing — not the popular thing — is a life sentence.”

Cruz pleaded guilty nearly a year ago to the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, willing to accept a life sentence without forcing Broward County to endure the spectacle of a trial when his guilt was never truly in doubt.

[ RELATED: Life and death became a matter of chance in Parkland school massacre ]

Jurors will receive final instructions Wednesday morning from Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer.

Jurors will be required to weigh life or death for each of the 17 murder counts to which Cruz pleaded guilty last October. If they recommend death, the ultimate decision falls in the hands of Scherer.

The jury will be sequestered during its deliberation. If no decision is reached by the end of Wednesday, jurors will be taken to an undisclosed hotel, with deliberations to resume Thursday.

Staff photojournalist Amy Beth Bennett contributed to this report.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @ Susannah_Bryan. Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4457, or on Twitter @rolmeda.