OF COURSE

Taxpayers Still on the Hook to Pay for Parkland Shooter’s Defense Despite $432K Inheritance

Even though he’s reportedly set to collect $432,000 from his late mother.

Taxpayers are still responsible for Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s defense at his upcoming murder trial, as the $432,000 he’s set to collect from an annuity account his late mother left behind will likely not be accessible in time, a Broward County judge ruled Friday. The judge said that even if the money were to be made available, it likely wouldn’t cover all of his legal costs. “The Public Defender has not demonstrated that the defendant has access to, possession of and the ability to use the monies from the annuities at this time,” Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ruled, according to the Sun Sentinel. Cruz, who confessed to shooting up Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018, faces 17 murder and 17 attempted murder charges. He faces the death penalty if convicted.