FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The coming days and months of the penalty phase of the Parkland school shooting trial will undoubtedly be very hard for the victims’ families.
Monday was excruciating for many in the courtroom, listening to how their loved ones were murdered on February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Senior High School.
Some of them left the courtroom while others were visibly distraught and in tears.
Videos and 911 calls were played in court of the brutal school shooting that left 17 dead and 17 others wounded.
Fred Guttenberg and his wife Jennifer, who lost their 14-year-old daughter Jaime, clutched one another.
Jennifer Guttenberg covered her ears when hearing the shots ring out during videos played by prosecutors.
Then came the sounds that cut like a knife, the screams following the gunshots.
For some loved ones, the audio was too much to bear and they left the courtroom.
State attorney Michael Satz presented his opening statement earlier in the day, recounting gruesome details of the shooting.
While listening in, 14-year-old victim Alex Schachter’s dad Max was seen visibly distraught.
The mother of 17-year-old victim Helena Ramsay at one point left the courtroom in tears, and Tony Montalto, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Gina in the school shooting, took a deep breath when Satz said his daughter’s name.
The families are not commenting during the breaks just yet, but some have taken to social media.
Fred Guttenberg tweeted about being at the White House last week and inside the courtroom Monday, and how it’s “the reality of gun violence.”
Schachter posted photos of his son, simply saying “I love you Alex.”
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