Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz is reportedly set to receive a share of a life insurance policy valued at over $800,000.
It’s unclear who left Cruz and his step-brother the $864,929 MetLife policy, but the windfall prompted a request from Cruz’s public defense team to drop his case, according to a Wednesday court pleading from his lawyers .
Cruz’s newfound wealth legally disqualifies him from a public defense, according to the Broward Public Defender’s Office, who made the request.
“The Law Office of the Public Defender is statutorily prohibited from representing a non-indigent client,” the office wrote in the court pleading, adding that until recently both Cruz and his lawyers were unaware of the payout.
The brothers’ adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, died in November 2017, though it’s unclear if the policy was hers.
Cruz, who confessed to the Valentine’s Day 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, faces 17 counts each of first-degree murder and attempted murder.