**Warning: Graphic content**
A jury has been shown a series of disturbing drawings and notes written in jail by Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz.
Cruz, 23, brutally murdered 14 students and three members of staff at Parkland, Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 14 February 2018.
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Last October he pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder, and a trial is now underway to determine his sentence.
Yesterday (Monday 23 August) Cruz’s lawyers began their defence, attempting to persuade the jurors to give him life without parole instead of the death penalty.
Thirty pages of drawings and written scrawlings were made public, including one which read: "All I want is to go to death row. I do not want life please help me go to death row!!!"
Others showed drawings of what looked to be automatic weapons and ammunition, WSVN reports.
Other drawings show grotesque faces and pentagrams, as well as note that read: “I do not want to be bothered by anyone or anything, I can’t wait to die. Blood, blood. I only wanna see blood.”
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On his cell wall, Cruz had daubed the number 666 – the biblical ‘mark of the beast’ – in his own blood.
His lawyer Melisa McNeill, told the court Cruz had been ‘poisoned in the womb’ by his alcoholic and drug-addicted mother, saying her client was ‘damaged’.
She said: “He was poisoned in the womb and because of that his brain was irretrievably broken through no fault of his own.
“His brain is broken, he’s a damaged human being and that’s why these things happened.”
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She added: “One day he wants to live and one day he wants to die.”
The court heard from Cruz’s sister Danielle Woodard, 35, who said their late mother drank heavily and smoked crack while pregnant with Cruz.
McNeill said there was ‘no defence’ to her client’s actions but told the jury to think about the ‘root cause’ of the crime.
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She went on: “There’s no defence to these crimes. But I also know that wounded and damaged people want to damage other people because they are in pain . . . we must understand the person behind the crime; what was the root cause?”
The trial, which is expected to run for several more weeks, has already heard from the families of the victims of the horrific attack.
Patricia Oliver, the mother of 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver, said her family had been left ‘shattered’ after the killing.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677
Claire Reid