More: Parkland’s Nikolas Cruz made chilling videos before shooting: ‘You’re all going to die’Ĭruz's trial is scheduled to begin early next year. When he pressed her on why, she hesitated and then said he was young and she wanted him to be safe. She asked him not to release the gun to him after the three-day waiting period if she wasn't there. View Gallery: Photos: Candlelight vigil for school shooting victims in ParklandĪ gun store employee told investigators after the shooting that he had received a call from Linda Cruz the day after the 2017 purchase. She went with him to buy a gun shortly after he turned 18, but with a caveat. Zachary and other family members have said Nikolas Cruz sometimes hit his mother and once threatened her with a gun, but she never reported that. The mother had a tumultuous relationship with her sons, calling police dozens of times over the years to say they had been verbally abusive or had damaged her property. More: Official: Mom of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz let him buy gun Their father died when they were young, not long after they were adopted. Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia in November 2017, three months before the shooting, leaving behind Cruz and his younger brother, Zachary. It is also unclear how Cruz would access the money from jail.Ĭruz has said that he would prefer any money he received from his mother's estate or insurance go to the victims and their families. Weekes said that his office cannot help Cruz hire a private criminal defense attorney nor can it advise him what to do with the money. Other attorneys representing families and victims did not immediately respond to emails seeking their comments. View Gallery: Photos: Students hold vigil for Parkland students on Naples Pierĭavid Brill, an attorney representing the father of victim Meadow Pollack in a lawsuit against Cruz and others, said Wednesday that he is exploring his options. More: Nikolas Cruz, who is charged in the Parkland school massacre, is due for a court hearingĬircuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who is presiding over the criminal case, has not set a hearing on the public defenders' withdrawal motion and she might require them to stay on until that is settled. It is likely that the victims' families who are suing Cruz will claim the money should go to them and judges will have to determine who ultimately receives it. "We are asking to withdraw from the case because the defendant is no longer poor."īut Cruz may not get the money. "By statute, we can only represent the poor and indigent," Weekes told The Associated Press by phone Wednesday. At a court hearing last year, their office had said the amount was likely to be about $30,000, too little to hire a private attorney. Public Defender Howard Finkelstein and his chief assistant, Gordon Weekes, said their office learned about the insurance policy this week. More: Nikolas Cruz's brother: ‘I'm stuck between loving him and hating him because of what he did’
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