Arguing that his troubled childhood warrants some leniency, Cruz’s counsel will push Florida jurors to sentence him to life in prison instead of the death penalty. His half-sister, Danielle Woodard, 35, and his brother, Zachary Cruz, 22, are expected to be questioned over the circumstances of their notorious sibling’s upbringing. The siblings of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz are expected to testify on his behalf at his sentencing hearing this week. Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP PoolZachary Cruz, 22, and Danielle Woodard, 35, will answer questions about Cruz’s childhood.Miami -Dade Corrections, Broward Woodward, who shares a mother with Cruz, is currently behind bars awaiting trial for allegedly hitting a 72-year-old Broward County woman in a car in 2020 and will be transferred from jail to testify. She has a long criminal history and has served many terms behind bars since her youth. While their mother put Cruz up for adoption when he was still an infant, Woodard is expected to tell jurors about her drug and alcohol use while pregnant with him. Cruz pleaded guilty to killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018.AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, FileAnne Ramsay holds a photo of her daughter Helena, the victim of the Parkland shooting, at Cruz’s trial on August 4 , 2022.Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool Zachary Cruz, who was slapped with six months of probation for trespassing at the scene of the shootings after the murders, is expected to answer questions about his brother’s early life. The defense team will point to several traumas that Nikolas Cruz suffered as a child, including his mother’s use of cocaine and alcohol while she was pregnant, his alleged sexual abuse by an unknown “peer” and the death of his adoptive father at age 5. years. Cruz’s lawyers will also cite his severe mental health issues, the bullying he suffered at school and the death of his stepmother in the months before the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre. Cruz, then 19, opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 14 students and three staff members in one of the worst mass shootings in the nation’s history. He pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first degree murder. The defense postponed its opening statement at the start of the trial and will do so as early as Monday. Prosecutors presented Cruz’s crimes in graphic detail, with jurors watching footage of the bloodshed and touring the cordoned-off crime scene. Relatives and friends of the slain have given harrowing accounts of their ordeal, at times bringing tears to Cruz’s lawyers.
