Prosecutors Recount 'Cold, Calculated' Parkland Shooting as Gunman's Sentencing Trial Beginsrosecutors recounted the deadly rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in harrowing detail on Monday, as the gunman’s sentencing trial began more than four years after 17 people were killed during a 2018 shooting at the“I’m going to speak to you about the unspeakable, about this defendant’s goal-directed, planned, systematic murder—mass murder—of 14 children, an athletic director, a...
Seated in court, victims’ family members shook their heads and wiped away tears as Satz named each victim, described where they were killed and how many times they were shot. Defense attorneys for Cruz opted not to give an opening statement on Monday and will, instead, open after prosecutors make their case. They’re expected to argue that Cruz struggled with mental health issues, and to focus on mental illness as a mitigating factor in arguing that he should not be executed.