Amy Beth Bennett
As defense attorneys ask a jury to spare Nikolas Cruz from receiving the death penalty, they claimed Monday that the Parkland shooter’s brain was “poisoned” by his mom’s drinking and drug abuse when she was pregnant.
Melisa McNeill, Cruz’s lead defense attorney, said her client’s brain was “irretrievably broken through no fault of his own.” In her first time speaking in court, McNeill asked jurors to consider the 23-year-old’s dark childhood when analyzing what eventually led Cruz to massacre 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
“In telling you Nik’s story, in telling you the chapters of his life, we will give you reasons for life,” McNeill said.