Rift between Parkland massacre survivor and some families of the dead erupts in court

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A nasty rift between the most seriously wounded survivor of the 2018 Parkland school massacre and some families of the 17 murdered erupted in court on Thursday in a fight over dueling lawsuit settlements each side recently reached with the shooter as opposing attorneys accused each other of lying.

The immediate fight is over a June agreement survivor Anthony Borges and his parents reached with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz that would give Borges rights to Cruz's name and image, approval over any interviews he might do and a $400,000 annuity left Cruz by his deceased mother.

Attorneys for the families of slain students Meadow Pollack, Luke Hoyer and Alaina Petty, and survivor Maddy Wilford, quickly countered with their own $190 million settlement with Cruz.

But as Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips learned Wednesday, the mutual animosity started during negotiations over a $25 million settlement reached in 2021 with Broward County schools when the families of those killed insisted Borges receive $1 less than they would as an acknowledgement that they suffered the greater loss.

Borges' attorney, Alex Arreaza, believed his client deserved $5 million from that pot as Borges 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. The Borgeses eventually reached their own settlements.

Borges, 21, was shot five times in the torso and legs. The once-promising soccer star nearly bled to death.

“The Borgeses are tired of being treated like second-class citizens,” Arreaza said after the hearing. “We never wanted to air that out before, but the reality is that they threw us out of the group because they wanted to dictate what we are supposed to get, and the Borgeses have every right to ask for what they asked for.”

But David Brill, the lead attorney for the Pollack, Hoyer and Petty families and Wilford, said Arreaza has insulted the families by telling them he was tired of hearing about their dead loved ones and that he exaggerated how much Borges' future medical costs will be.

“This bad blood, on our side we have repeatedly done what is right for the Borgeses, notwithstanding that history, at every turn, even on this one. And this is the thanks we get,” Brill said after the hearing.

Phillips had to step in numerous times during Thursday's 90-minute session as the sides yelled over each other and accused each other of dishonesty. In exacerbation, the judge at one point made a semi-joke that the animosity level was so high she felt like she was presiding over a contested divorce — and that she was granting it.

The immediate fight over the dueling settlements comes in two parts.

First, Brill argued state law precludes Borges from acquiring rights to Cruz's name and likeness and any money he might earn from his story as Cruz was stripped of those when he was convicted.

In any case, Brill said, one person should not have the right to decide whether Cruz should be allowed to give interviews. That should belong to all the families and survivors, he argued, which would ensure Cruz would never be heard from again. Cruz, 25, is serving a life sentence at an undisclosed prison.

Second, he said, Arreaza violated a verbal contract to work together in their lawsuits against Cruz, split the annuity money and donate it to charity, if it ever materializes. Instead, Brill said, Arreaza surreptitiously got the killer to settle without telling anyone until it was done.

Arreaza insists that Brill is lying about a verbal contract and that Borges needs the possible annuity money to help with his future medical care. He insists that state law does not bar Cruz from signing over his name and any future earnings, but also said Borges would never agree to let Cruz give an interview, so the other families shouldn't worry about that.

Phillips said she would rule later on whether Borges, the families or anyone owns Cruz's publicity rights, but urged the sides to negotiate a settlement over the annuity. Otherwise, she will schedule a hearing that she said will be painful for both the families and Borges and again give Cruz the attention he craves.

She said she was particularly saddened Thursday's hearing came a day after four people were killed in a Georgia school shooting and that she thinks the sides are letting their animosity toward each other push aside the immense tragedy they all experienced.

“Everybody should look deep into their thoughts,” she told the lawyers. “Is this what everyone wants to focus on?”