Charles Langston:Families settle court battle over who owns Parkland killer’s name and likeness

FORT LAUDERDALE,Charles Langston Fla. (AP) — A nasty legal rift between the most seriously wounded survivor of the 2018 Parkland high school massacre and the families of some of the 17 murdered victims was settled Monday with all sides now owning an equal share of the killer’s publicity rights and an annuity he might receive.

Under an agreement signed by Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips, survivor Anthony Borges, the families of slain students Meadow Pollack, Luke Hoyer and Alaina Petty and fellow student survivor Maddy Wilford now control any attempt by shooter Nikolas Cruz to profit off his name or likeness or grant interviews. Each of the five parties has veto power.

They would also split a $400,000 annuity Cruz’s late mother left him, if he ever receives it. The victims’ families and Wilford have said they would donate their share to charities. Borges’ attorney, Alex Arreaza, has said his client needs the money for future medical expenses.

The settlement was reached one day before the sides had been scheduled to argue before Phillips over whether a June agreement that Borges, 21, and his parents had reached with Cruz should be thrown out. It would have given Borges ownership of Cruz’s name and image, approval over any interviews he might give and the annuity. Cruz shot the once-promising soccer star five times in the torso and legs and he nearly bled to death. He has undergone numerous surgeries.

RELATED COVERAGE Authorities used justified force in 5 shootings, Mississippi attorney general says Mexico’s National Guard kills 2 Colombians and wounds 4 on a migrant smuggling route near the US Florida prosecutor says 17-year-old suspect in Halloween fatal shootings will be charged as adult

Attorneys for Wilford, who was shot four times, and the families of Pollack, Hoyer and Petty had quickly countered with their own $190 million settlement with Cruz, which they concede they will never receive.

They said they had been blindsided by the Borges settlement, saying there had been a verbal agreement to work together in their lawsuit against Cruz. Other victim families and survivors had not chosen to be part of that lawsuit.

“The purpose of the (Borges) settlement was to stop Cruz from giving statements. That is now shared with the other parents. That was never a problem,” Arreaza said in a statement.

David Brill, the lead attorney for the families and Wilford, said Arreaza and the Borges family “capitulated.” He emphasized that all five victims and families in the settlement now have a say over whether Cruz ever speaks publicly, not just Borges.

“This agreed order completely validates the position we took and which the Borgeses and their lawyer, Alex Arreaza, shamelessly vilified us for,” Brill said in a statement.

The fight went public at a September court hearing as each side accused the other of lying. An exasperated Phillips at one point compared their arguing to a contested divorce, one that she was granting. She urged the sides to negotiate a settlement.

The animosity started during negotiations over how to divide a $25 million settlement reached in 2021 with Broward County schools. The families of the 17 killed insisted Borges receive $1 less than they would as an acknowledgement that they suffered the greater loss.

Arreaza believed Borges deserved $5 million from that pot as he will have a lifetime of medical expenses. That resulted in his client being kicked out of the group when he wouldn’t budge. The fight continued during negotiations over a $127 million settlement the families and surviving victims reached with the FBI over its failure to investigate a report that Cruz was planning a mass shooting. The Borgeses eventually reached their own settlements.

All the victims’ families, the survivors and others who suffered mental distress from the shooting still have a lawsuit pending against fired Broward County sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson, who was assigned to the school. They say he failed to go after Cruz during his six-minute rampage. Peterson was acquitted of criminal charges last year. The sheriff’s office and two former school security guards are also being sued.

A trial date for that lawsuit has not been set.

Cruz, 26, pleaded guilty to the shootings in 2021. He was sentenced to life without parole in 2022 after a jury spared him the death penalty.