Families of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting are headed to court next week to challenge one plaintiff’s claim that he now owns the rights to the name of the Parkland gunman and the $400,000 inheritance left when his mother died in 2017.
The lawyer representing Anthony Borges said in late June that he had negotiated a civil settlement with Nikolas Cruz saying he could not grant so much as an interview without the written consent of Borges, who was critically injured on the third floor of the Parkland high school’s now-demolished freshman building during the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting.
Cruz, 25, is now serving 24 consecutive life sentences in Florida State Prison, 17 for the victims he killed and 17 for those he injured. A jury in 2022 declined to sentence Cruz to death.
The deal between Cruz and Borges left a bitter taste in the mouths of numerous plaintiffs who have sued Cruz, the Broward Sheriff’s Office and three men who were responsible for security at the high school during the attack. For years, Borges and the other plaintiffs, many of whom lost their children and families in the mass shooting, worked together as they pressed ahead with their civil cases.
But that cooperation did not last. In 2021, Borges severed his case from the other plaintiffs, with his lawyer arguing that Borges was entitled to more consideration as a surviving victim facing a lifetime of medical and mental health bills that set him apart from those who did not survive the shooting.
“It should be pointed out that the Borges family does not have the same financial resources as many of the other families who suffered in this tragedy,” said Borges’ lawyer, Alex Arreaza. “They look at the money from this lawsuit as accountability. My client sees it as compensation for current and future suffering.”
According to Arreaza, the gunman signed away the rights to his name so that no one can profit from publicity surrounding the incident without Borges getting a cut. As part of the deal, Arreaza said Borges staked a claim to more than $400,000 in insurance money that was left when the defendant’s mother passed away in October 2017.
David Brill, the lawyer representing multiple victims’ families in the civil case, said Cruz had no right to sign away his name or his finances to one plaintiff without consulting the others.
“It was not his to give, and it was not the Borges family’s to take,” Brill said.
Arreaza said he negotiated in good faith with Cruz and that cooperation with the other families broke down when it became clear they had different approaches to the lawsuit. “In the end, I represent my client, not the other families,” Arreaza said.
The fight over Cruz’s money might not amount to much in the long run: More than 50 plaintiffs are suing in the civil case, and it’s not clear whether any of the defendant will be allowed to decide what happens to his inheritance. Several victims’ family members have said they don’t even care what happens to Cruz’s money as long as he doesn’t get it.
The FBI reached a private settlement with the victims’ familes, as did the Broward School District. The Sheriff’s Office is the last public agency facing a lawsuit, unwilling to concede responsibility for the communications breakdown that enabled the killer to finish his rampage and escape from the school undetected.
Cruz was captured off campus over two hours after the last shot was fired.
The plaintiffs are due in civil court on Thursday.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Threads.net @rafael.olmeda.
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