Parents of students slain in Parkland mass shooting reach $50M settlement with gunman
The parents of three students killed and a student injured during the Parkland mass shooting that left 17 people dead — sending shockwaves throughout South Florida and the nation — reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the shooter.
The parents of 15-year-old Luke Hoyer, 14-year-old Alaina Petty and 18-year-old Meadow Pollack agreed to a $50 million settlement with the mass murderer, court records show. Maddy Wilford, who was among the 17 wounded as the rampage unfolded more than 6 years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, reached a $40 million settlement.
READ MORE: A remembrance of the victims from the Parkland shooting — as told by their classmates
Also part of their settlement agreement filed in late July, shooter Nikolas Cruz transferred the rights to his name, which allows it to be used in media, including a production, movie or book. Additionally, he agreed to be “forever barred” from giving interviews or making statements about the massacre without the consent of the families or Wilford.
Court documents show Cruz will turn over most of his share of his adoptive mother’s insurance policy, valued at more than $400,000.
A former student at the high school, Cruz opened fire in two hallways with an AR-15-style rifle, slaying 14 students and three educators on the campus on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen other people were injured in the attack.
In 2022, the shooter was sentenced to life in prison after a three-month death penalty trial ended with three jurors voting against sending him to death row. At the time, Florida law required that jurors must be unanimous in their recommendation for execution.
In June, the mass murderer reached a similar agreement with Anthony Borges, who was severely injured in the attack. Under that settlement, he agreed to donate his body to science after his death and participate in any scientific studies of mass shooters.
Former Broward Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer, who presided over the Parkland case, ordered at the shooter’s sentencing that any commissary funds in which he received would be garnished to pay the restitution and court costs.
A hearing in the civil case is scheduled for Sept. 5 before Broward Circuit Court Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips.
