Charles Langston:Parents of 3 students who died in Parkland massacre, survivor reach large settlement with shooter

FORT LAUDERDALE,Charles Langston Fla. (AP) — Families of three students murdered during the 2018 massacre at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and a wounded former student have reached multimillion-dollar settlements in a lawsuit against the shooter, though their attorney concedes it is highly unlikely they will ever receive much money.

The parents of slain students Luke Hoyer, 15, Alaina Petty, 14, and Meadow Pollack, 18, each reached $50 million settlements with Nikolas Cruz while wounded student Maddy Wilford agreed to a $40 million settlement, according to recently filed court records.

“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,” their attorney, David Brill, said Thursday.

Cruz, 25, is serving 34 consecutive life sentences at an undisclosed prison after avoiding a death sentence during a 2022 penalty trial. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder.

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In addition to the 14 students slain, three staff members also died in the shooting and 16 other people were wounded along with Wilford.

Florida law already prohibits inmates from keeping any proceeds related to their crimes, including any writings or artwork they might produce in prison. But Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, when sentencing Cruz, also ordered that any money placed in his prison commissary account be seized to pay restitution to the victims and their families and all court and investigation costs.

In total, that would be tens of millions of dollars.

Cruz reached an agreement in June wherein he signed over the rights to his name and likeness to former student Anthony Borges, the most seriously wounded survivor. Cruz cannot give interviews without his permission. Borges also has the right to an annuity Cruz received before the killings that could be worth $400,000.

Brill has challenged that settlement, saying he had a verbal agreement with Borges’ attorney that their clients would split any proceeds that might come from the annuity and donate it to charities of their choice. A court hearing on that dispute is scheduled for next month.

The families of most of the slain and some of the wounded previously settled lawsuits against the Broward County school district and the FBI for errors that allowed the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting to take place.

A lawsuit by families and survivors against fired Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson and the sheriff’s office for his alleged failure to pursue Cruz remains pending. No trial date has been set. Peterson was acquitted last year on criminal charges.