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Teen breaks into tears on cross-examination

Brazill says that he was just carrying the gun that killed his teacher and "didn't have any plan of using it."

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- After nearly four hours on the stand, the teenager charged in last year's shooting death of a middle school teacher in nearby Lake Worth showed his first emotion, breaking into tears during cross-examination.

Assistant State's Attorney Marc Shiner was grilling Nathaniel Brazill, 14, about what happened immediately before the gun went off, striking Lake Worth Community Middle School teacher Barry Grunow in the face.

Brazill said he was angry with Grunow because the teacher refused to let him talk to a pair of his friends in the classroom. In earlier testimony, he said he did not think Grunow was "taking him seriously."

VIDEO CNN's Mark Potter reports on the testimony of 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill (May 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) See highlights of 14-year-old Nathaniel Brazill's testimony (May 8) Part 1 | Part 2 (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Mark Potter reports on the alleged shooting captured on this security video taken at a Florida school (May 4) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Mark Potter has more on the first degree murder trial of Nathaniel Brazill in West Palm Beach, Florida (May 2) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)  DOCUMENTS • Read the complaint against the gun maker (FindLaw) (PDF) • Read the indictment and probable cause affidavit in the Brazill case (FindLaw) (PDF) • Read the Florida law on juveniles being tried as adults Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.  MESSAGE BOARD School safety

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Brazill said he then pulled the slide back on the gun to cock it and told the teacher to get out of his way.

"I was aiming at his head."

"Where did you hit him?"

"In the head."

"Did he take you seriously after you shot him?"

Brazill did not respond.

"What did Mr. Grunow do when he fell to the ground?"

After a long pause and with tears welling up in his eyes, Brazill said, "What do you think he did?"

Earlier, at the request of prosecutors, the teenager demonstrated how he held the gun in the seconds before the fatal shot was fired.

Brazill showed the jury how he moved the slide on the gun to cock it and put a bullet in the chamber.

"You wanted to make sure there was a live round in the gun," Shiner asked.

"Yes, sir."

Shiner then told Brazill to show the jury how he pulled the trigger.

"I didn't intentionally pull the trigger," Brazill said. "My hand was on the trigger."

"Who pulled the trigger?"

"I did."

Shiner later grilled Brazill about why he ran away after the gun went of in Grunow's face.

"You knew he was shot, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You did nothing to help that man, did you?"

"I was scared."

"Yes or no."

"No, sir."

"You just let the man die there."

Shiner continued, "You were trying to scare Mr. Grunow?"

"Yes."

"Having a gun made you feel like a big man?"

"Yes."

In other questioning, Shiner asked Brazill about a conversation he had with a friend.

"Do you remember telling Michelle Cordovez that you were going to bring a gun back to school; you were going to shoot Mr. Hines because he suspended you; do you remember telling her that?"

"Yes, sir."

Meanwhile, CNN has learned that Brazill's family asked the defense Tuesday to explore the possibility of a plea deal in the shooting death of his language arts teacher. But Brazill's attorney Robert Udell said the prosecution promptly rejected the idea.

Last month, Brazill's parents turned down a plea deal of 25 years in prison offered by the prosecution, clearing the way for the trial. If convicted of first-degree murder, the teen-ager faces life in prison without parole.

During Tuesday's testimony, Brazill said he had no plans to kill Grunow, his favorite teacher, according to previous testimony. He described pulling out a handgun on the last day of classes last May 26 when Grunow would not let him talk to two friends in private.

He had returned to the campus after being sent home by another teacher earlier in the day for getting in a water balloon fight. Pulling out the gun, Brazill said, was a way to get Grunow to concede to his demands.

Brazill said Grunow told him to "get that out of my face."

"Immediately after that, that's when the gun went off," he said.

Brazill, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, said he did not recall pulling the trigger and he believed the gun's safety was on.

He said he remembered clutching the gun with two hands and trembling with tears in his eyes when he was pointing the gun at Grunow. He ran after the shooting but surrendered to an officer he knew from a recreation center, Brazill said.

Brazill described Grunow, a father of two, as a "nice guy" and a "good teacher" who "made his class fun."

Grunow had given him an "F" on a progress report about a week before the shooting, but Brazill said he had no ill-will toward his favorite teacher and that he had completed the necessary work to pass the class.

"Did you mean to harm Mr. Grunow?" asked Udell.

"No," Brazill answered.

He testified he had found the gun and bullets inside a cookie tin in his grandfather's room several days before the shooting. Though he took it, he said, "I didn't have any plan of using it."

14-year-old boy denies he planned to kill teacher
May 8, 2001
Jury told teen's gun couldn't have fired by itself
May 7, 2001
Teen admits he fired gun that killed teacher
May 7, 2001
Classmate: Teen made death threat before shooting
May 4, 2001
Jury in teen's trial sees videotape of shooting
May 3, 2001
Friend says she saw teen-ager pull trigger
May 2, 2001
Florida teen offered plea in teacher shooting
April 17, 2001
Grand jury weighs charging 13-year-old as adult in teacher shooting
June 12, 2000

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