Cruz biological mother’s past a factor in school shooting
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The extensive criminal and drug abuse history of Parkland school suspect Nikolas Cruz’s biological mother could be a key factor in whether he is sentenced to die for the massacre that killed 17 people, legal experts and officials say.
The mother, 62-year-old Brenda Woodard, played no role in Cruz’s upbringing after giving him up for adoption after he was born. But her past, which included a crack cocaine purchase arrest while she was pregnant with Cruz, will almost certainly be brought up for a jury considering whether he should live or die.
“It is not necessarily her past, but how her past contributed to his genetic makeup,” said David S. Weinstein, a former state and federal prosecutor now in private practice. “Her use of drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant with him, and how her genetic makeup was passed on to him.”
“It might not carry the day, but it will give the jurors another mitigating factor to consider,” he added.
The identity of Woodard, first reported Wednesday by the Miami Herald, was confirmed to the Associated Press by a person close to the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing prosecution.
The American Bar Association guidelines for defense lawyers in death penalty cases say they should closely examine all the defendant’s past family, going back at least three generations.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the chairman of a state commission investigating the shooting separate from the prosecution, said Wednesday that all of Cruz’s background is relevant.
https://apnews.com/a0c694780e4d4337a43c00814438b763/Cruz-biological-mother's-past-a-factor-in-school-shooting