AS IS OTHER DAYS. >> THE DEATH PENALTY TRIAL. THIS COMES AFTER THREE MORE
FAMILIES SHARED THEIR PAIN IN
COURT TODAY.
>> EARLIER IN THE DAY JURORS
TOWARD THE STILL BLOOD
SPATTERED ROOMS AND MARJORY
STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL.
THAT CRIME SCENE HAS BEEN LEFT
INTACT SINCE THE MASSACRE FOUR
YEARS AGO.
LOCAL 10 CHRISTINA VAZQUEZ WAS
ONE OF ONLY A SELECT NUMBER OF
REPORTERS ALLOWED INSIDE TODAY.
>> AND JOINING US LIVE NOW FROM
FORT LAUDERDALE TO SHARE WHAT
SHE SAW.
CHRISTINA, I AM SURE WAS VERY
EERIE TO BE WALKING DOWN THE
HALLWAYS.
>> Reporter: WHEN YOU USE THE
WORD, ONE FEELING HAD ONCE WE
STARTED APPROACHING THE
BUILDING, IS IN MANY RESPECTS,
IT FEELS LIKE A MAUSOLEUM.
AND AS YOU WALK INTO THOSE
SPACES, IT IS LIKE A TIME
CAPSULE TO TERROR, A GRISLY
SCHOOL SHOOTING JUST SUSPENDED
IN TIME REMEMBER THESE JURORS
HAVE HEARD FROM THE STATES CASE
PRESENTATION, SOME REALLY
GRAPHIC TESTIMONY RIGHT FROM
MEDICAL EXAMINER’S ABOUT THE
VIOLENT WAY BY WHICH THESE 17
MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS STAFF
AND STUDENTS DIED ON
VALENTINE’S DAY 2018.
WHEN YOU WALK INTO THE
BUILDING, YOU ARE SEEING THE
EVIDENCE OF WHERE THEY LOST
THEIR LIVES.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT POOLS,
DRIED CAKED BLOOD AND THE
CLASSROOM FLOORS IN THE
ALCOVES, THE HALLWAYS.
WHERE THEY HAVE LEARNED FROM
THE TESTIMONY OF THOSE WHO
SURVIVED, THIS VERY TERRIFYING
SHOOTING HAVE TOLD THEM WHERE
THESE CERTAIN STUDENTS AND
STAFF MEMBERS DIED.
SO WHY DO I BRING THAT UP?
FOR ME PERSONALLY I CANNOT
SPEAK FOR THE JURORS AND THEIR
INDIVIDUAL POSSIBLY REACTIONS
AS THEY’RE WALKING THROUGH A
CRIME SCENE, PRESERVED FOR MORE
THAN FOUR YEARS.
FOR ME PERSONALLY AS I GO INTO
A CERTAIN CLASSROOM, WE HAVE
DARA, A ENGLISH TEACHER AND I
COULD LITERALLY ALMOST HEAR HER
TESTIMONY IN MY HEAD AS I WALK
INTO HER CLASSROOM, I REMEMBER
TALKING ABOUT DEBRIS FLYING
ACROSS THE CLASSROOM AND THE
HAZE THAT CAME AS THE GUNFIRE
RATTLED THE BUILDING.
IN THAT ROOM TO TALK ABOUT
SUSPENDED IN TIME, IN DIFFERENT
CLASSROOMS OR LAPTOPS THAT ARE
STILL OPEN WITH THE DUST THAT
SETTLED FROM THE CEILING ON
THEM.
THERE ARE VALENTINE’S DAY CARDS
AND DEFLATED BALLOONS AND
STUFFED BEARS, SHARDS OF
SWIFTNESS THAT DEATH DESCENDED
ON THIS BUILDING.
AND THEN WHEN YOU GET INTO A
CERTAIN AREA, LET’S TAKE ELENA
PETTY, THERE’S SOMETHING HER
SISTER SAID IN THE VICTIM
IMPACT STATEMENT THAT ALWAYS
STAYED WITH ME WE HAD A LOT OF
FAMILY MEMBERS FOR INSTANCE,
TALK ABOUT NOT WHAT JUST A MESS
BUT THE FUTURE LIFE EVENTS THEY
WILL MESS.
ONE THING SHE SAID IS HOW SHE
DIED WITH HER BRACES STILL ON.
I DON’T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER
THAT BUT IT WAS A IMAGE THAT
STUCK OUT WITH ME BECAUSE IT
REALLY CONVEYS THE YOUNG AGE OF
SOME OF THESE VICTIMS AND I AM
THERE IN THE CLASSROOM AND YOU
CAN SEE ELANA PETTY ’S DESK AND
YOU CAN SEE HER WITH THE BRACES
AND THERE IS A BLUE FOLDER THAT
HAS HER NAME ON IT, RIGHT
BEHIND HER DESK.
IS THIS, ONE OF THESE LARGE
POOLS OF BLOOD, DRIED CAKED
BLOOD BEHIND THE TEACHER’S
DESK, JUST AS A TESTIMONY, SO
YOU’RE IN THAT SPACE.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE SHE HAD SUCH
LIFE, THIS WAS THE MIDDLE OF A
SCHOOL DAY AND YOU WERE SO
REMINDED OF THAT, WHEN YOU ARE
LOOKING AT THE CLASSROOMS AND
USE E-BOOKS STILL OPEN, THE
VICTIMS NOTEBOOKS STILL THERE,
PENCILS THAT THEY WERE USING,
SECONDS BEFORE THEY WOULD FIND
THEMSELVES BECAUSE OF THE
PARKLAND SHOOTER, SHOT,
BLEEDING AND DYING ON A
CLASSROOM FLOOR.
AND SO, AS A JURORS POSSIBLY
DID WHAT WE DID, THEY WERE
THERE FOR JUST ABOUT AN HOUR
AND HALF, WALKING THE THREE
FLOORS, WALKING THROUGH THE
SPACES.
THAT IS JUST AN INDICATION OF
SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THEY
SAW.
THE THIRD FLOOR WAS BY FAR I
WOULD SAY, THE MOST DIFFICULT
WHERE WE SAW FRANCIS, THE MOST,
THAT DRY CAKED BLOOD IN THE
HALLWAYS AND SAID YOU HAVE TO
REMEMBER, TO THE VICTIMS
FRANCIS, PETER AND JOAQUIN, AS
WE KNOW FROM THE MEDICAL
EXAMINER’S TESTIMONY, THAT SOME
OF THE MOST EGREGIOUS INJURIES
PETER WISHART MORE THAN 10
TIMES.
I SAW HIS CRIME SCENE PHOTO.
HE WAS LAYING IN THE HALLWAY ON
THE CORNER.
NOW YOU’RE STANDING THERE IN
THAT SPACE AND YOU CAN SEE,
WHEN YOU SEE WHERE THEY DIED
YOU SEE THE EXACT MOMENT WHERE
THEY TOOK THEIR LAST BREATH,
YOU SEE THE BLOOD SPATTER FROM
THEIR BODIES ON THE WALLS.
IT IS GRUESOME, IT IS GRISLY
AND IT IS HARD.
ALSO ON THE THIRD FLOOR, THERE
ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT MOMENTS
WALKING THROUGH THE BUILDING
FOR DIFFERENT REASONS.
BUT ON THE THIRD FLOOR AGAIN,
IT IS VALENTINE’S DAY.
SCATTERED HERE AND THERE ARE
THE VALENTINE’S DAY TEDDY BEARS
AND DEFLATED BALLOONS AND
THERE’S A LOT OF HANDMADE
CARDS.
BUT ON THE THIRD FORCE FOR
INSTANCE, RIGHT WHERE YOU SEE
JOAQUIN OLIVER WHERE HE WAS
SHOT AND KILLED, THERE IS DRAG
MARKS ON THE HALLWAY THROUGH
HIS BLOOD AND FROM THE CRIME
SCENE PHOTOS YOU KNOW THAT’S
WHERE HE WHAT’S PULLED INTO THE
HALLWAY WILLIE FROM WHEN FIRST
RESPONDERS CAME.
THE POINT IS WHEN YOU’RE
STANDING THERE, THERE IS A
HEART-SHAPED FRANCIS, PAPER
VALENTINE’S DAY CARD.
ONE CORNER OF THAT YOU CAN TELL
WAS LITERALLY SATURATED IN
BLOOD.
AND THEN, AS YOU’RE STANDING
THERE, YOU SEE BITS OF DRIED
ROSE PETALS JUST SPRINKLED
WITHIN SHARDS OF GLASS, LYING
THERE ALL OF THIS BLOOD
SPATTER.
I WOULD READ YOU SOMETHING FROM
THE SECOND FLOOR.
WHY TALK ABOUT WHERE THE
MAJORITY OF PEOPLE WERE KILLED
WERE MURDERED, HE WAS ON THE
FIRST AND THE THIRD FLOOR BUT
ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL
MOMENTS ON THE SECOND FLOOR.
AS YOU’RE WALKING THROUGH THE
SECOND FLOOR, I WILL READ YOUR
QUOTE THAT HAPPENS TO BE ON THE
HALLWAY AGAIN SUSPENDED IN TIME
SINCE FEBRUARY 14, 2018.
IT IS A QUOTE FROM JAMES DEAN
THAT SAYS DREAM AS IF YOU WILL
LIVE FOREVER, LIVE AS IF YOU’LL
DIE TODAY.
IT WOULD BE A LOT FOR THE
JURORS TO TAKE IN, I KNOW IT
WAS A LOT FOR US.
>> AS YOU WERE DESCRIBING IT TO
US WITH YOUR DESCRIPTIONS, WE
JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR
THE WORK YOU BEEN DOING, THIS
IS DIFFICULT FOR YOU AS THE
FAMILIES BUT FOR YOU TO SEE THE