One of the nation's leading researchers on the effects of fetal alcohol abuse says the birth mother of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz drank more in pregnancy than any woman he has documented
on Feb. 14, 2018, at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. His trial, now ending its second month, is only to determine whether he is sentenced to death or life without parole.
Jones told the jury that while there is disagreement over whether Woodard abused cocaine during her pregnancy — witnesses said she did, tests indicate she didn't — that wouldn't have made a significant difference given her alcohol abuse. He said his examination shows Cruz falls into fetal alcohol spectrum disorder — a broad category — but does not have the more narrowly defined fetal alcohol syndrome. He said the latter has certain physical traits that pediatricians can recognize such as thin lips, narrow eyelid openings and a smooth philtrum — the ridge between the nose and mouth.