![]() On 14 February 2018, Cruz, a then-19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, travelled to the school in Parkland, Florida, armed with an AR-15. Then, on November 2017 – just three months before Cruz murdered 17 people in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – Lynda died, leaving Cruz and Zachary parentless. He would stand there for a few hours and do this.”Īfter Roger’s death, Lynda was to raise the two boys alone. “He would stand at the window screaming and crying and I would have to yell at him to get away from the window,” said Ms Browd. “It had to be his way or no way,” she said.Ĭruz was “so attached” to his mother that she couldn’t go anywhere without him when he was young. When Cruz threw tantrums, his mother gave him “whatever he wanted”. Ms Browd said that Cruz’s younger brother Zachary had a lot of friends but they “didn’t want to be around” his older brother because of his aggressive tendencies.Ĭruz also had trouble eating and communicating and wore diapers until he was five years old, she testified. “Children would find it difficult to play with because he was aggressive,” she added. He would lay down and scream and cry, but not like a normal kid,” she said. Ms Browd, who said she hasn’t seen Cruz in 2010 after she had a falling out with Lynda, testified that Cruz was “aggressive” from a young age and had “tantrums” unlike those of a typical child. Ms Browd also adopted a son and daughter and both of their families were very close, with their children spending a lot of time together, she said.īut, at some point, she said Cruz was accused of “inappropriately touching” a young girl. Lynda also told Zachary that he looked just like Roger, she said. “She would tell Nikolas that he looked just like her from a young age,” she said. When the boys were young, she also told them how much they looked like their adopted parents despite not being biologically related. Ms Browd testified that Lynda hid the fact that Nikolas was adopted from both Lynda and Roger’s family. Then, in 1998, the Cruzs adopted Nikolas as a baby, followed by Cruz’s biological brother Zachary Cruz. Lynda was desperate for children but suffered four miscarriages, she said. Ms Browd said she became best friends with Lynda when they both lived in New York in the 1980s before they moved together with their husbands to Florida. ”Įxactly 13 years later on Valentine’s Day 2018, Cruz murdered 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “Daddy’s not going to bring Mommy flowers but we want to,” she recalled them telling her. Ms Browd told the court that the Valentine’s Day after Roger’s death, Cruz – then six – and Zachary came to her and said they wanted to buy their mother Valentine’s Day flowers Jurors previously heard in courtroom testimony that Cruz was not given grief counseling until four years after Roger’s death. Ms Browd testified that Nikolas and Zachary were sent to a grief support group with other children after witnessing the traumatic incident. “As clear as sunshine he said, ‘No, Daddy is dead,’” said Ms Browd.Īt that moment, she said Lynda told her she ran into the den and found her husband dead on the couch. ![]() When she asked her son if he was upset because his father had yelled at him, Cruz allegedly gave a harrowing response. Nikolas Cruz: What are fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and does the Parkland shooter have one?.Nikolas Cruz: Who was the Parkland shooter’s biological mother Brenda Woodard?.Missed warning signs, failings, and lessons learned: What happened during the Parkland massacre.
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