Fourteen of a possible 80 defense witnesses have testified, so far, that the Parkland school shooter was a troubled child since before he was born to an alcohol and drug-addicted mother.
In the fifth day of testimony on Monday, a retired special education teacher with Broward County Public Schools for 20 years characterized a 10-year-old Nikolas Cruz as a loner in the third grade.
“Nikolas was very quiet, he was aloof, he didn’t blend in well with the other students,” Lynne Rodriguez testified. “[He was] anxious, very anxious.”
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It was difficult to tell what mood he was in on any given day.
“He didn’t emote a lot,” Rodriguez said. “You didn’t see him laughing or happy or more anxious and getting angry.”
However, he was “disruptive and aggressive” with other students.
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“He could be cursing and angry and throwing things,” she said. “Sometimes he would rip up other students’ work.”
She said his grades were the lowest in the class.
“He had extra help because of his levels of academics,” she said.
Prosecutor Jeff Marcus countered Cruz was not any more intellectually or emotionally disabled than other students and that his test scores were in the average range.
A friend of Lynda Cruz -- since before Lynda adopted Nikolas – testified in a pre-recorded, edited video played in court.
Finai Browd echoed earlier defense testimony that Nikolas was bullied, was aggressive and had no friends as a child.
“He wore diapers for a long time," Browd said. "Pull-Ups…until he was maybe five [years old].”
She said her friend Lynda did her best to raise Nikolas.
“It was difficult, but she had a lot of patience,” Browd said.
Speech and language pathologist Shameka Stanford testified Cruz had a “severe language disorder” that led to frustrations which could have manifested as violent behavior.
"There was definitely the presence of a speech disorder," she said, after reviewing education records. "There was also a greater concern about his language ability and his language skills and that was being presented in his behavior and his inability to make friends."
The defense team is working to demonstrate the mental and emotional hardships Cruz faced in his life that they claim triggered the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14, 2018.
The prosecution presented 12 days of gruesome evidence and emotional testimony from over 90 witnesses in seeking a unanimous death penalty vote for the shooting deaths of 17 students and staff and wounding of 17 more.
The defense hopes to sway at least one juror to ensure Cruz gets a life sentence.
The sentencing trial resumes Tuesday at 9 a.m.
