MIAMI – The jury in the sentencing trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz will view the crime scene at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The jury will be taken to the school Thursday morning and be allowed to walk through the 1200 building where the massacre happened in 2018.
They will be allowed to view the hallway and classrooms where the shooter used an AR-15 assault rifle to carry out the massacre. Accompanying them will be Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, prosecutors and Cruz’s attorneys. The defense filed a waiver so Cruz will not be returning to the crime scene.
“You will be guided in a general manner on a particular path outside and inside the school building. You will be free to explore and observe the three floors of the 1200 building where the crime occurred, including the various rooms and classrooms throughout each floor in which the doors are open,” Scherer told the jury on Wednesday.
The three-story classroom building has been sealed since the Valentine’s Day 2018 shooting. The floors remain bloodstained and bullet holes remain in the walls.
The jury will not be allowed to talk, touch anything, or make any recording of what they see.
The jury is deciding whether the shooter will spend life in prison or be sentenced to death.
Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder last fall. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Cruz’s defense attorneys are asking the jury for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
To recommend a death sentence, jurors must be unanimous.
On Wednesday, the jury also heard more impact statements from families who lost loved ones in the massacre.
Among them, are Tony and Jennifer Montalto whose 14-year-old daughter Gina was killed.
They described the devastating effects on their family.
“Gina was kind, smart, and loved to read,” her father Tony said as he recalled Gina saving a 2-year-old from drowning when Gina was just 10 years old.
Max Schacter said his family is broken too.
His 14-year-old son Alex died in the mass shooting.
“Part of me will always be sad,” said Schacter.
Once a widower, Schacter spoke of the lasting effects his son’s sudden violent death has had on his new blended family.
His fiancé and her daughters
His son Brian read a poem that Alex had written and thrown in the trash before the day of the killings.
The poem was entitled “Life is like a roller coaster” and relates how the ups and downs of life resemble a fast-moving roller coaster.
Max Schacter has recited the poem on several occasions to honor his son’s memory and illustrate the loss of a promising writer.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism