Brittany Sinitch: who is she? First witness in Nikolas Cruz’s sentencing trial recalls horrifying memories of Parkland School shooting
In the penalty phase of the trial, a teacher was the first witness to testify against Nikolas Cruz, the school’s shooter. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School instructor Brittany Sinitich survived the 2018 Parkland shooting.
In a Broward County courtroom in Fort Lauderdale, Brittany Sinitch recounted the horrific incident that led to her developing post-traumatic stress disorder. She explained in court on Monday:
LISTEN: As gunshots rang out in the background, Parkland school teacher #BrittanySinitch called 911 to report the horrific school shooting.
The trial of Nikolas Cruz’s first witness is Brittany Sinitch.
Brittany Sinitch was reportedly the first witness to indict Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz in court. She said she started teaching in 2017 at the age of 22. The school where Sinitch received her education now employs her as a teacher.
The start of Sinitch’s testimony had to be delayed because technical problems arose shortly after she took the witness stand. Cruz’s defense team, meanwhile, requested a 45-day postponement of the trial, citing the resignation of one of its key witnesses.
In Class 1218, where Sinitch taught English to freshmen, her students were now reading Romeo and Juliet. The whole class heard a loud shot shortly after the start.
On February 14, 2018, #BrittanySinitch, a teacher and survivor from Parkland, Fla., spoke about the tragic mass shooting.
“You could just feel it inside you; it was all over my chest.”
Citing the Parkland school massacre as an example, she pointed out that Nikolaz Cruz shot and killed 17 children at random, injuring 17 others. The teacher kept getting flashbacks, even though none of her students were hurt.
She expressed:
“One of the students made sure the door was closed when Cruz fired his AR-15. Some of them were in my back pocket.”
In the courtroom, as prosecutor Mike Satz played Sinitch’s 911 call out loud, Sinitch began sobbing and screaming. The teacher had to take a year off to recover from the ordeal.
She founded The Unbreakable Organization, a nonprofit dedicated to healing trauma victims.
Tomorrow, after four and a half years, the opening argument in the Parkland shooting trial will finally begin. The twelve-member jury decides whether Nikolas Cruz lives or dies.
The Parkland, Fla., school gunman’s verdict hearing began Monday at the Broward County Courthouse. The families of the victims and survivors experienced extreme emotions.
Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty in October to what is believed to be the deadliest mass shooting trial in American history. The 23-year-old has pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
According to reports, based on the jury’s decision, Nikolas Cruz will receive either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The penalty phase of his case can last up to four months.
After the prosecutor’s opening statement, seven witnesses were called to the witness stand. As videos from the classrooms during the atrocities were shown, the families of the victims present at the court burst into tears.