The families of three students killed in theParkland, Florida, school shooting reached a $150 million settlement with the perpetrator of the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The parents of Luke Hoyer, Alaina Petty, and Meadow Pollack who were all killed by Nikolas Cruz on Feb. 14, 2018 all agreed to $50 million each as part of the settlement, whileMaddy Wilford, a student who was wounded in the shooting, settled her lawsuit against Cruz for $40 million.
However, an attorney for the families acknowledged that theyre unlikely to receive any significant money as a result of the settlements.
People watch as crews begin to demolish the building where seventeen people were killed during the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on June 14, 2024.Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images
The chief rationale for the judgment amounts is simply in the event that the killer ever comes into possession of money, we could execute on the judgments and obtain it, thus preventing him from buying any creature comforts, attorney David Brill said (viathe Associated Press).
Florida law already ensures that inmates cannot profit off of their crimes, and Cruz already previously agreed tohand over the rights to his name and likenessto former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Anthony Borges, the most seriously wounded of Cruzs victims; as part of that agreement, Cruz cannot conduct any interviews without Borges permission.
Suge Knights Wrongful-Death Retrial Officially Ran Off the Rails Today
Suge Knight Refuses to Let Lawyer Quit, Retrial Begins Tuesday
Trump Attacks the Supreme Court, Says America Cannot Give Everyone a Trial
Woman Dragged From Republican Town Hall Seeks $5 Million in Damages
Borges also has the right to a $400,000 annuity Cruz was set to receive prior to theParkland shootingthat killed 17 people; Brill is contesting that aspect of the agreement, arguing that the families he represents should also get a split of that annuity, which they would then donate to charity.
When Cruz was sentenced to 34 consecutive life sentences but not the death penalty in November 2022, the judge ordered that any money deposited into his commissary must also go towards restitution for his victims.
