Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz had a horror start to life but did it matter at trial?

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Dr Kenneth Jones, who is regarded as one of the nation’s top FASD experts, testified that he has “never seen” a woman abuse alcohol while pregnant as much as Cruz’s biological mother. Life is full of those things… so kids can have the same biological mother and be adopted by the same parents and so they have a bunch of things that are similar but they also have various other pieces of life experiences.” Zachary Cruz, brother of Nikolas Cruz, appears in court in Fort Lauderdale in March 2018 She adds: “There’s a perception that the big picture factors play a much more significant role in a predictable way when there’s so much of life linked to idiosyncrasies.” In this sense, while jurors are learning about the major risk factors Cruz had, Ms Marsh explains that sometimes it is the smaller experiences that can have the biggest impact. In Cruz’s case, it’s possible this “major life event” could have been the death of his adoptive mother. They’re climbing an extremely steep mountain here and its unlikely that – given the facts of the case – it’s going to make a huge difference… it’s like throwing a pebble into the ocean.” He adds: “The problem is that the crime he committed is so hideous that it’s really not going to matter much to people that he had a difficult upbringing.” Learning about all of Cruz’s risk factors for violence may evoke some empathy from the jury, says Ms Marsh.