Penalty Trial Begins For Parkland Mass Shooter [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports:

The penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz began on Monday, the deadliest U.S. mass shooting to go before a jury.

Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty last October to 17 counts of first-degree murder at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in the deaths of 14 students and three staff members, and is only contesting his sentence. Jurors must decide whether he gets death or life without parole.

About 50 family members of the victims were in the courtroom, sitting together in a roped off section. It wasn’t clear if anyone, aside from his defense lawyers, was there to support Cruz.

Read the full article. The clip below is live.

The penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz begins Monday with the jury hearing opening statements and then the first evidence about the 2018 massacre that left 14 students and three staff members dead. https://t.co/0msycZkTkb

— ABC News (@ABC) July 18, 2022