‘Magic personified.’ Jurors hear loved ones describe murdered victims at Parkland school

Jurors have heard a lot about the violent deaths of 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High students and three staffers who were shot to death by a teenage gunman.

On Monday, the jury finally got to hear about the joy and beauty in their lives.

There was Joaquin Oliver, 17, who loved to blow his mother kisses, listen to classic rock and watch movies with his high-school sweetheart, always ordering popcorn, root beer and cookie-dough bites. “He wanted to travel and run away with me to Paris,” testified his tearful girlfriend, Victoria Gonzalez, who called him “magic personified.”

Said his older sister, Andrea Ghersi: “Even if he was 6-1, I always saw him as my baby.”

Read more: How a driven prosecutor is building the case to execute Parkland killer

There was Alaina Petty, 14, the youngest of four siblings, who sometimes bickered with her older brother, but joined the high school JROTC program just like him. Her older sister, Meghan Petty, one of seven loved ones on Monday who gave “victim impact” statements, feared she’d remember Alaina less and less over time.

“She never got her braces off. She never had her first kiss,” Meghan Petty sobbed. “It causes me pain to know she never went on a first date or got to feel the nerves and excitement that goes with that uncharted territory. It hurts me to know she never got asked to the prom. It causes me great pain to know she never got to fall in love. She never got to experience the heartbreak and come out stronger and wiser.”

And there was Scott Beigel, the 35-year-old geography teacher who loved baseball, talked to his mother daily and rooted for underdogs. His mother recalled her son teaching in South Africa, leaving with two suitcases, returning with one.

“He said he left his suitcases because the children needed his clothes and belongings way more than he did,” Linda Beigel Schulman said, adding: “I miss my son today. I will miss my son tomorrow. I will miss my son every day the rest of my life.”

The families’ testimony delivered an emotional gut-punch as prosecutors entered their third week in the case against Cruz, 23, who has already pleaded guilty to the massacre. The jury is tasked with considering whether Cruz should be executed or sentenced to life in prison.

Victim-impact statements are a regular part of Florida criminal trials — although it’s unheard of for 17 families to have to talk about their loved ones in just one case. Jurors heard only about three of the murdered victims on Monday, with 14 others to go. The jurors cannot consider the statements to be “aggravating factors,” which prosecutors need to show to sent Cruz to Florida Death Row.

Their memories were gut-wrenching and painful to hear. None of the relatives addressed Cruz directly although Ghersi, after her testimony, appeared to glare at Cruz as she walked back into the gallery.

A couple of jurors dabbed their eyes. Cruz mostly looked down, his right hand fidgeting, as members of his defense team dabbed their own teary eyes.

During the trial, prosecutors have retraced the steps of Cruz, a former MSD student who entered the school armed with an AR-15 rifle, methodically gunning down students on two floors, some in the hallways, others cut down through the windows of their classrooms in the freshman building.

Jurors have seen firsthand the carnage — viewing autopsy photos, crime-scene photos and video surveillance of Cruz’s rampage. They’ve also heard from dozens of students and teachers who survived the massacre, some who suffered catastrophic gunshot injuries.

Also on Monday, jurors saw the three short and chilling videos, made by Cruz on his cellphone. He complained about classmates who thought he was “an idiot.” He professed love for a girl he hoped to see in “the afterlife.”

And Cruz promised to be the “next school shooter,” aiming to kill “at least 20 people” at the Parkland school. “With the power of my AR-15 you will all know who I am,” Cruz said in the final video played Monday.

Read more: Parkland school shooter’s sister wants to testify in his trial. But she’s in jail, too

Also on Monday, jurors:

▪ Saw a string of text messages between Cruz and a friend identified as “J.T.,” and with the girl “Angie,” with whom he had a infatuation. In the text string with J.T., as he was arriving in an Uber ride to the school, he wrote: “I have to tell you something important soon” but demurred when pressed about what.

“Dude nothing bad bro,” Cruz wrote.

With Angie, the day of the shooting, he sent a barrage of messages professing his love.

Jurors also heard from a Broward Sheriff’s police digital forensic examiner, who showed jurors Cruz’s numerous phone searches for information on mass shooting and “Pumped Up Kicks,” a song about someone ruminating about shooting young people.

▪ Heard from Cruz’s former JROTC teacher, John Navarra, who told jurors that his one-time student earned a “sharp-shooter” badge in marksmanship drills. During the cross-examination — in a preview of Cruz’s defense — an attorney pointed out that Cruz had been deemed to have emotional disabilities, had a speech impediment and attended most of his classes at Cross Creek, a campus for students with behavioral problems.

“He did well in Junior ROTC. We’re not an academically hard class,” Navarra said. “He was quiet and well behaved and often times that is worth a lot in the classrooms.”

▪ Heard about the autopsies and wounds for students Luke Hoyer and Oliver, and Aaron Feis, an assistant football coach and campus monitor who was killed while responding to the gunfire. Jurors on Monday heard from Dr. Terrill Tops, a former Broward associate medical examiner who performed the autopsies.

Oliver was shot at close-range outside a third-floor bathroom in the freshman building. The testimony was graphic — Tops said the damage to his head was like a “cherry bomb” exploded in his brain.

Oliver’s mother, Patricia Oliver, wept in court and was led out along with her daughter afterward.

Patricia Oliver returned in the afternoon and was the first parent to take the stand. She described the devastation caused by her son’s murder. “We miss him more than words can say and love him dearly,” Patricia Oliver said. “While we will never be the same, we have found a way to deal with his absence and be motivated by helping others living with this kind of loss and pain.

“Today, I must let the world hear from me. To accept he is not physically here from with us is still an issue for me. ... I must let the listeners know how painful it is to live with this deep hole in my heart.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2022 at 6:16 PM.