Disturbing drawings and writings by Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz in jail have been released, including one where he wrote: "Please help me go to death row!!!"
Cruz, now 23, killed 14 students and three staff members at Parkland, Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018.
He pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder and a trial is currently underway only to decide his sentence.
Cruz's attorneys began their defense on Monday, seeking to convince a jury—made up of seven men and five women—to sentence him to life without the possibility of parole and not death.
Thirty pages of drawings that Cruz has made inside his jail cell were released to the media on Monday, giving an insight into his state of mind.
On one page, Cruz discussed the issue the jury will decide. "All I want is to go to death row," he wrote, according to WSVN. "I do not want life please help me go to death row!!!"
Cruz also used his own blood to draw "666" on the wall of his jail cell, WSVN reporter Frank Guzman wrote alongside a photo of it on Twitter.
In other pages, he also wrote: "I do not want to be bothered by anyone or anything, I can't wait to die. Blood, blood. I only wanna see blood."
Other pages included sketches of what look like automatic weapons and ammunition, WSVN reported.
The words "Hail Satan!" are written alongside drawings of monstrous faces and pentagrams, while 666—a figure known as the "number of the devil"—was scrawled on several pages.
Those drawings led to deputies placing Cruz on suicide watch in May, according to Local 10 News, a Florida TV station.
As the defense for Nikolas Cruz starts their case to try and spare his life, a newly released photo shows a "666" he drew on the wall of his jail cell using his own blood. His defense attorney made a reference to this during her opening statement. pic.twitter.com/d1Pbz2mGkX
— Frank Guzman (@fguzmanon7) August 22, 2022
Cruz's lead attorney, Melisa McNeill, made a reference to the drawings in her opening statement on Monday, which was deferred from the trial's first day on July 18.
"One day he wants to live and one day he wants to die," McNeill added.
McNeill acknowledged there is no excuse for what Cruz did, but urged jurors to consider factors as her team presents its case over several weeks.
The jury must be unanimous for Cruz to be sentenced to death.
On Monday, jurors were told that Cruz's brain is "irretrievably broken" because his birth mother abused crack cocaine and alcohol during her pregnancy.
Cruz has fetal alcohol and drug issues that his adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, did not adequately deal with, McNeill told the jury, according to The Associated Press.
The defense team will also argue Cruz suffered sexual abuse by a "trusted peer," was bullied and suffered emotional problems following his adoptive mother's death four months before the massacre.
The prosecution, which is seeking the death penalty, spent three weeks presenting its case, which including emotional testimonies from the parents of victims.
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on abortion rights, race, education, ... Read more
