Parkland School shooter Nikolas Cruz’s mother died in November, and now he stands to inherit $25,000 from a life insurance policy when he turns 22. However, according to The New York Post, Cruz wants to donate the money to the victims to help “heal the community.”
Cruz’s lawyer Melissa McNeill told a Broward County court Wednesday (April 11) that “Mr. Cruz does not want those funds [or] whatever money that he is entitled to.”
“He would like that money donated to an organization that the victims’ family believes would be able to facilitate healing in our community or an opportunity to educate our community about the issues that have ripened over the last four or five months,” McNeil said.
On Feb. 14, Cruz killed 17 people inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with a semi-automatic weapon. The school shooting ignited passionate debate about enacting sensible gun laws. Student led demonstrations also erupted across the country.
“Let it go to those who have been hurt, period,” another member of Cruz’s legal team said. However Cruz’s lawyers have not decided if the victims will receive payments in monthly or yearly installments. Nikolas Cruz, 19, reportedly is willing to plead guilty to avoid the death sentence and be given life in prison. According to The Sun Sentinel, doing this would spare the victims of having to enduring weeks of testifying.