FORT HOOD, Texas — A soldier left for dead after being shot in the head. A widow whose two sons won’t have their father to take them fishing or teach them how to be gentlemen. A grieving father who includes himself and his unborn grandson in the death toll of the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood.
Survivors of the attack and relatives of those killed testified Monday at the sentencing phase of Maj. Nidal Hasan’s trial. Prosecutors hope the testimony helps convince jurors to impose a rare military death sentence on Hasan, who was convicted last week of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 others at the Texas military base.
The sentencing phase allows victims and their families to tell jurors how their lives were affected by the attack. But it also will be Hasan’s last chance to tell jurors what he’s spent the last four years telling the military, judges and journalists: that the killing of unarmed American soldiers preparing to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan was necessary to protect Muslim insurgents.
Staff Sgt. Patrick Ziegler was among the first to testify, telling jurors how he was shot four times and underwent emergency surgery that removed about 20 percent of his brain.
Doctors initially expected him to die or remain in a vegetative state. He was hospitalized for about 11 months and had 10 surgeries, though his injuries left him paralyzed on his left side.
“I think I’m hopeful I’ll continue to recover some movement, but eventually I’ll succumb to my wounds and I won’t be able to function,” Ziegler said, noting that he would never be able to use his left hand, has blind spots in both eyes and can’t drive.
The married father said he has trouble caring for his 10-month-old son, “like a normal father would.” He described his cognitive level as the same as a 10th or 11th grader and said he has fought severe depression.
“I’m a lot angrier and lot darker than I used to be,” he said, adding that the injuries had “pretty much affected every facet of my personality.”
Shoua Her wiped away tears as recalled how she and her husband, Pfc. Kham Xiong, talked about growing old together and having more children. Now, she said, her children know their father only through memories or stories.
“We had talked about how excited we were to purchase our first home. We talked about vacations and places we wanted to go visit. And all that was stripped away from me,” she said. “Our daughter will not have her dad to walk her down the aisle. My two sons will never have their dad to take them fishing or (teach them) sports or how to be a gentleman.”
“I miss him a lot,” she added. “I miss his soft, gentle hands. How he holds me. He made me feel safe and secure. Now the other side of the bed is empty and cold. I feel dead but yet alive.”
As she testified, one of the jurors, a male officer, fought back tears.
Juan Velez, the father of Pvt. Francheska Velez, said his family hasn’t come to grips with her death. The 21-year-old woman was pregnant when she was killed, and her cries of “My baby! My baby!” during the attack were described by several witnesses who testified during the trial.
“That man did not just kill 13, he killed 15. He killed my grandson (Velez’ unborn child) and myself,” he said in Spanish. “It hurt me to the bottom of my soul.”
Other widows, mothers, children and siblings of the slain were also expected to tell the jury of 13 high-ranking military officers about their loves ones and describe the pain of living the last four years without them. What they won’t be allowed to talk about are their feelings toward Hasan or what punishment they think he deserves.
Hasan, an American-born Muslim, has admitted carrying out the attack and showed no reaction when he was found guilty. He is representing himself during his trial, yet he called no witnesses, declined to testify and questioned only three of prosecutors’ nearly 90 witnesses before he was convicted.
It remained unclear Monday whether he planned to say anything during the trial’s sentencing phase.
The judge, as she has done repeatedly, asked Hasan on Monday if he wanted to continue representing himself. She went through a series of questions that appeared to be aimed at getting on the record that Hasan was adamant about remaining in charge of his own defense.
“You understand that this is the stage of trial … you are staking your life on decisions you make. You understand?” the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, asked.
“I do,” Hasan said.
She told him that it was “unwise to represent yourself, but it’s your choice.”
At the minimum, the 42-year-old Hasan will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Prosecutors want Hasan to join just five other U.S. service members currently on military death row. No American soldier has been executed since 1961. Many military death row inmates have had their sentences overturned on appeal, which are automatic when jurors vote for the death penalty. The U.S. president must eventually approve a military death sentence.
Jurors must be unanimous to sentence him to death.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
