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.