Week 3: Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial, prosecution continues case

Week three of the sentencing trial for Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz resumes Monday.

Last week the jury heard testimony from a variety of people, including the victims themselves as well as the person who sold him the weapon.

This week, more details about the horrific event will be revealed.

“Moving into this upcoming week we will continue to hear from subject matter experts, detectives, investigators, and pathologists. It’s getting deep and dark,” said St. Thomas University criminology professor Dr. Debbie Goodman.

She said the prosecution will continue to lay out gruesome details surrounding the Parkland shooting.

“The prosecution is coming in very strong, like a lion if you will. So for every single day, a different part of the story will be shared, we know it’s gruesome, we know it’s graphic, but this individual did what he did and now there’s the penalty that this jury, that we entrust with this extremely important decision, they need to hear it all,” said Goodman.

Last week’s proceedings included testimony from the man who sold Cruz the rifle he used in the shooting, the Uber driver that took him to the scene, and even a corrections officer who described being attacked by the suspect nine months after the massacre.

As family members listened, the jury also heard testimony about the victims’ injuries.

While Goodman said this week will be more testimony from similar experts. She said it’s necessary to paint a full picture of the shooting and what lead up to it.

“We can’t assume that the jury knows everything. Yes, we know he’s the shooter, this is a mass shooting, and he killed 17 people but that’s one part of this, there’s still so much more. The A-to-Z of all of this, how he planned it, how he went on social media, and how he was so seemingly emboldened (to do it),” said Goodman.