This article has testimony details from the defense witnesses. It appears to be regularly updated.
On Aug. 22, Nikolas Cruz's defense team began its part of the case, presenting evidence that it hopes will persuade the 12-person jury to chose a life-sentence for the Parkland gunman, now 23.
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Here are the witnesses the defense has called in an attempt to save Nikolas Cruz from a death sentence. His team is expected to call nearly 80 witnesses.
Witness #10 Dr. Brett Negin: Cruz diagnosed with Disruptive Behavior Disorder
Dr. Brett Negin is a psychiatrist who met with Cruz from 2012 to 2017. Negin diagnosed Cruz with Disruptive Behavior Disorder because of his difficulty interacting with peers and his irritability.
Cruz destroyed his television after losing a video game, the letter continued. He "has a hatchet that he uses to chop up a dead tree in the backyard. Mom has not been able to locate that hatchet as of lately."
He carved holes in the walls of the bathroom and used sharp tools to cut through furniture upholstery.
"Per recent information shared in school, he dreams of killing others and is covered in blood," the therapist wrote.
Witness #9 Laurie Karpf recalls Nikolas Cruz threatened to stab elementary school teacher
Dr. Laurie Karpf, a psychiatrist, treated Cruz from age 10 to 13. She told jurors the gunman's adoptive mother was concerned about his irritability, anxiety and aggression.
Lynda Cruz was a good woman, Karpf said: "She tried to be a good mom to her two kids. She had her hands full."
Karpf read a note Lynda Cruz wrote to her about her son's behavior. He had trashed his desk at school and cursed at his third-grade teacher, she said. Once, he threatened to stab the teacher, and he hit a classmate with a lunchbox.
Witness #8 Steven Schusler: Lynda Cruz introduces son Nik Cruz to neighbor as, 'he's the weird one'
Steven Schusler lived across the street from the Cruz family in Parkland from 2009 to 2015, and he thinks of those six years in three periods: the beginning, when he met Cruz; the middle, when he was friendly with him; and the end, when he was cautious.
Schusler said he called the public defender after he watched Cruz's guilty plea on the television. He said it was important to him that they know: "This boy did not go bad. He was never right."
Witness #7 clinical psychologist Dr. Frederick Kravitz recalls Nick Cruz as a 'very peculiar child'
Dr. Frederick Kravitz, a retired clinical psychologist, told jurors that he met with Nikolas Cruz when he was 8 years old. Cruz's adoptive mother Lynda was concerned about his temper and anxiety, the doctor said. He looked and acted years younger than he was, and he "stuck out like a sore thumb."
Cruz was a "very peculiar child," he said.
He was at varying times hyperactive, aggressive, fearful and withdrawn, and he had a "very active bad imagination." He was terrified that his mother would forget to pick him up from school and leave him there, stranded.
Witness #6 former Broward County Public School counselor John Newnham recalls Cruz avoided eye contact as a child
John Newnham, a former counselor for Broward County Public Schools, said Cruz was a "shy, somewhat fearful student" in kindergarten. He shrunk away from contact and clung to an adult who showed him around Coral Springs Elementary on his first day there. He avoided eye contact.
Cruz told Newnham that he felt different from his peers; as though he was somehow less-than, and they judged him for it.
" 'I'm just stupid,' " the counselor said Cruz sometimes told him. " 'I'm a freak.' "
Witness #5 Trish Devaney Westerlind, friend of Lynda Cruz: 'He was a cute little baby'
The defense called Trish Devaney Westerlind, a friend of Cruz's late adoptive mother, Lynda, to testify.
Children in the neighborhood would tease him for peeing his pants, and he'd break their toys because of it.
"He'd clench his fists. He'd be, like, really angry," Westerlind said. He never got over things quickly.
Witness #4: 'Young Minds' pre-school teacher recalls Nik Cruz as 'clumsy' and having lots of tantrums
Anne Marie Fischer is the former director of Young Minds Learning Center in Broward County, where 1-year-old Cruz attended in 1999.
"He had tantrums a lot," Fischer said.
He struggled to grasp things in his hands like crayons and spoons, and he was clumsy. His legs were always bruised from falling. Fischer said.
Witness #3: Pre-School teacher Susan Lubar recalls Nikolas Cruz as a toddler
Susan Lubar taught Cruz when he was 4 years old. Even then, he was aggressive, she told jurors. He'd scale furniture and pace the classroom to avoid other children, curling his hands into paws and hissing when they came near.
Witness #2: Nikolas was developing in her polluted womb,' testifies Danielle Woodard, sister of Nikolas Cruz
One of the most anticipated defense witnesses, Cruz's biological sister, Danielle Woodard, was the second person called to the stand as the defense began their part of the Nikolas Cruz death penalty trial. Her responses were slow and drawling.
Witness #1 Carolyn Deakins: "She didn't want it. Nikolas, I'm sorry, but that's how it was."
Carolyn Deakins, a friend of Cruz's biological mother, was the first witness that the defense team called to the stand. She and Brenda Woodard did "anything we could get our hands on" in the late '80s, she said.
