He was given six months probation for trespassing at the shooting site. She said Lynda Cruz had dreamed of being a mother so went through a private attorney to adopt Nikolas and, two years, later his half-brother Zachary. Prosecutors said that Zachary had been “heard observing how popular name is now” and questioned whether the fame would help to attract female attention. Zachary, who turned 18 one week after the mass shooting, told police he had gone to the school to “reflect on the school shooting and soak it all in”, according to an arrest report. He visited the site of the massacre at least three times and – after being warned to stay away – was charged with trespassing, authoritied said. In the hours after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Zachary was allowed to meet with his brother in the police station, with footage later released to the media.Īfter that, he was accused of becoming fascinated with the fame his brother was getting. In November 2018 – just three months before the school shooting – Lynda died at the age of 68, leaving the two boys orphaned. In total, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office had 43 contacts with the Cruz family prior to the Parkland massacre, 21 of which involved Cruz alone or both him and his brother, according to official records. When Cruz was five and Zachary four, Roger died, leaving Lynda to raise the two boys alone. Unlike Zachary and Cruz, Danielle did grow up with Woodard, other biological relatives and lived in foster care. The brothers also have an older sister Danielle Woodard who also shares the same birth mother. When Cruz was born, he was adopted by the Cruz parents.Īround one year later, Zachary was born and was also adopted by the Cruz parents who raised the boys together. Woodard had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse and a long rap sheet dating back to at least the 1980s. The boys’ birth mother was Brenda Woodard who, at the time of her pregnancy with Cruz, was homeless, an alcoholic, a drug addict and working as a prostitute. Zachary has the same biological mother as Cruz and was also adopted by Lynda and Roger Cruz. Here’s what we know about Cruz’s younger brother: Early life
#LYNDA CRUZ ZACHARY CRUZ TRIAL#
While the trial is casting more of a spotlight on Cruz and his actions leading up to the mass shooting, Zachary also hit headlines in the aftermath of the attack. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.Fourteen students and three educators were killed in the massacre. His attorneys have said he would plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence without parole.
He stayed until 10th grade, when he was transferred to Marjory Stoneman Douglas.Ībout a year before the attack, Cruz was kicked out of the school after he harassed other students, had outbursts, fought and had numerous other issues.Ĭruz is charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder. In February 2014, while in eighth grade, Cruz was transferred to a school for children with emotional and behavioral issues.
He and his half-brother Zachary tormented their adoptive, widowed mother, Lynda. (AP) Chaos reigned in the home where Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz grew up, testimony in his ongoing penalty trial has shown. School and government records obtained by The Associated Press and other media shortly after the shooting show Nikolas Cruz was diagnosed as developmentally delayed at age 3 and had disciplinary issues dating to middle school. Sep 11, 2022, 04:07 PM EDT FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Zachary Cruz, the suspect’s younger brother, told The Miami Herald in May that Nikolas Cruz pointed a rifle at him and their mother in separate events, but they didn’t call police either time. Because those records are protected by federal and state law, the sessions will be closed. The commission is scheduled to discuss Cruz’s mental health treatment Thursday. Nancy Lanza bought guns for her 20-year-old son despite his emotional issues. Similar complaints were made about the mother of Adam Lanza, who killed 26 at a Connecticut elementary school in 2012 after killing her. Gualtieri told members that school and mental health counselors had at least 140 contacts with Nikolas Cruz over the years trying to get him help, but his mother frequently interfered. “If he wants to have a gun, he could have a gun,” Gualtieri said Lynda Cruz told his counselors. He bought other guns before and after her November death from pneumonia. Lynda Cruz was “an enabler” who interfered with efforts to get her son treatment, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, chairman of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, told members.Ībout a year before the attack, Nikolas Cruz was 18 and living with his mother when he legally bought the AR-15 authorities say was used in the Feb. Mental health counselors told the mother of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz she shouldn’t let him buy guns, but she ignored their concerns and he began compiling an arsenal before her death last year, officials said Tuesday.
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