FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. >> A Girl Scout and avid reader. A trombone player who loved movies and basketball. A straight-A student who loved Irish dance and was looking forward to a trip to Ireland.

Jurors in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz heard tearful statements Wednesday from three families whose children were among the 17 he murdered at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. It was the third consecutive day of such testimony, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear as once again jurors, spectators and even Cruz’s lawyers wiped away tears.

Fourteen families have now given statements with the final three set for today.

Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to the murders; the trial, in its third week, is only to decide if he will be sentenced to death or life without parole.

— The Associated Press