Parkland dad doesn't hold back about what school shooter's punishment should be: "He deserves to die"
PARKLAND – A gut-wrenching day for the families in the courtroom, filled with tears and hugs. They heard graphic opening statements about how their loved ones were murdered in the Parkland massacre.
Joaquin Oliver is one of the 17 killed.
"Joaquin was 17 years old," explained prosecutor Michael Satz. "He was shot four times. He died of his wounds."
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His parents, Manuel and Patricia, are dedicating their lives to address gun violence.
"I do want the attention to be around my son and not his shooter, so I'll do my best to make that happen," Manuel said.
CBS4's Ted Scouten spoke to Manuel Oliver the night before the punishment phase trial began. While he's focused on his activism, he plans to be in the courtroom when he's not out pushing for gun reform.
"You might see my face in that courtroom, or you won't. If you won't, if you don't see me there, that means we're doing something to be part of the solution, not just to wait for this chapter to be closed," he said.
He wants to see the jury impose the death penalty.
"I think that he deserves to die. The fact that Florida has the death penalty, if it's not for these kinds of cases, I don't know why do we have it," Manuel said.
He said even if the jury recommends death when this is over, it doesn't compare to how Joaquin and the 16 others died.
"Joaquin was chased by a guy with an AR-15 and then he was shot four times. He suffered while dying, he was an innocent person, and also were the other 16," he said.
Also in the courtroom, Linda Beigel Shulman. This is the first time she has been in the same room with the man who confessed to killing her son — teacher Scott Beigel and 16 others. Beigel is hailed a hero. He was gunned down while letting students take cover in his classroom.
"Scott Beigel was a geography teacher; he was holding the door open for his students. Scott Beigel was 35 years old; he was shot four times. He died of his wounds," Satz told the jury.
"I miss my son every day, every minute of every day," Linda said. "There's no doubt about that, but reliving the entire massacre is really going to be very difficult. I'm sure it's going to be very difficult, but it's something that needs to be done and justice needs to be served and I'm going to be there because I want to know every detail there is to know."
Scouten spoke to Linda the night before the punishment phase trial began.
She, other parents, spouses and family members will learn all the excruciating details of how their loved ones were murdered. Opening statements were gut-wrenching.
"I'm going to let the jury render a verdict. I have my feeling of what I hope happens at this trial and I prefer not to comment at this time. But I am very much wanting the jury to render a fair verdict," she said.
Linda lives out of state. She told Scouten just coming to Florida is hard.
"Now when I come to Florida, I go visit Scott in a mausoleum and as close as I get to him is touching the wall and not touching him and not getting hugs from him. Coming to Florida is very different than it used to be," she said.
She shared that in her family, Valentine's Day always had special meaning. Now it's a complicated flurry of emotion.
"My daughter Melissa was born on Valentine's Day and my son Scott was murdered on Valentine's Day. So, it's the best day of my life and the worst day of my life."