Nikolas Cruz, who allegedly shot 17 people at a Florida high school, could lose his public defenders after reports surfaced that he may inherit $800,000 from his late mother and father.
The Daily Mail reported that Howard Finkelstein, Broward County’s public defender, filed a motion in court Tuesday requesting that a judge determine whether Nikolas Cruz has enough money to pay for private counsel.
“It could result in us being removed from the case,” Finkelstein told ABC News on Wednesday. “The question here is, are there enough resources to pay for a lawyer?”
Finkelstein requested the court look into Cruz’s finances after the Miami Herald reported that Cruz told the family taking care of him after his mother’s death that he could access a trust fund worth $800,000 when he turned 22.
Roxanne Deschamps, who took Cruz and his brother in after their adoptive mother, Lynda, died November 1, filed a motion to administer the Cruz family’s estate the day after the February 14 shooting.
Lynda Cruz’s death came almost 15 years after Cruz’s adopted father passed away in 2004.
The parents reportedly never left behind a will for their children.
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