Anthony Montalto, whose sister Gina, 14, was killed, recalled his parents returning home on the night of February 2. On January 14, 2018, with tears in their eyes, they told him that his only sibling had died.
He said he wished he could say goodbye to her that morning.
“I can never watch TV with her, talk to her about books. Every day I walk by her room and find it empty. … Every day I wake up and I remember she won’t be there,” Meng said. Tarto said.
He called Nicolas Cruz a “murderous bastard” and said Cruz should be sentenced to death.
“He wasn’t supposed to be alive when my sister was rocking in the grave,” Montalto said.
Montalto said he hoped jurors who voted for life would regret their decision after hearing his testimony.
Gina Montalto’s father, Tony Montalto, added in court: “If the jury accepts the evidence presented, then there is only a logical and fact-based outcome. Sadly, the jury ignores the facts. , emotional. They worry about how they feel… [if Cruz] was executed. “
“Have they considered what message their sentences send to our nation’s students and teachers?” he continued. “Have they thought about how to explain their sentence to the victim’s siblings, as my wife and I have tried so hard?”
“I don’t believe this case was fair to the victims. The court allowed the defense to show every aspect of Cruz’s life before the Holocaust,” he said, but victims’ families could not bring photos of loved ones to court or wear pins in their memory .
“The court went to great lengths to dehumanize our beautiful Gina, her classmates and her teacher,” he said. “My family and others had to sit in the courtroom like church mice for fear of affecting the jury.”
“This injustice must be addressed. The rights of victims must be recognized,” he stressed.