Mr Donovan and Mr Moore are now accused of financially exploiting Zachary between 26 April 2019 and 20 April 2020, according to the indictment seen by the Sun-Sentinel. Zachary, who turned 18 just one week after his brother carried out one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history, then moved from Florida to Virginia to live with the couple and their son. Neither Mr Donovan nor Mr Moore had ever met the two brothers prior to the mass shooting but reached out to Zachary soon after, when he was arrested for trespassing on the massacre site. Her death meant the two sons were set to inherit around $428,000 each from her estate, according to court records. Zachary and Cruz, who shared the same biological mother Brenda Woodard and were adopted and raised together by Lynda and Roger Cruz, had been left orphaned in November 2017 when their adoptive mother died. Lynda Cruz died in November and their father died some years earlier.The couple, who cofounded bond servicing company Nexus, took Zachary Cruz, 22, under their wing after his brother murdered 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day 2018. Both were adopted at very young ages by Roger and Lynda Cruz. The brothers shared the same biological mother but had different fathers. "If they can do to Zachary what they did to him in the light of day in front of the national media, they can do it to anyone and that should scare all of us," Kimok said. Kimok said his client went skateboarding there because it was one of the few place he felt welcome. The brothers attended Stoneman Douglas but did not graduate. Susan Stocker / Pool via ReutersĪfter the hearing, Kimok called Zachary Cruz's 10-day detention on $500,000 bond for a trespassing charge "immoral and unconstitutional." He said there is no doubt that was done simply because of who his brother is and that no one else would have been arrested. Zachary Cruz, 18, brother of Nikolas Cruz, speaks with his attorney Joseph Kimok as he waits for his bond hearing to begin in Broward court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 29, 2018. Zachary Cruz was fingerprinted and the six deputies led him out. "Then in February, the only family member he had left, his brother, murdered 17 people in cold blood." That put Zachary Cruz's history, which has included counseling and calls about him to police, on national display, Kimok said. He pointed out that the Cruzes' mother died in November, forcing him to live with a guardian miles away. "Zachary has experienced, and continues to experience, a trauma unlike anything any of us could imagine," Kimok told the judge. Broward sheriff's deputies say school officials had told him not to come on campus, but his attorney, Joseph Kimok, denied that. He was arrested March 19 after police found him skateboarding at Stoneman Douglas after school, 33 days after his 19-year-old brother, Nikolas Cruz, killed 17 students and staff members and wounded 17 others during a Valentine's Day shooting. He can never visit the school again and must not contact any victims or their families. The judge also said Cruz must be tested to make sure he isn't consuming drugs or alcohol and must stay at least 1 mile from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during probation. The brother of the suspected Florida high school gunman pleaded no contest Thursday to trespassing on the campus where the deadly rampage occurred and was sentenced to time served and six months of probation.Ĭircuit Judge Melinda Kirsch Brown also ordered Zachary Cruz, 18, to enroll in therapy, wear an ankle monitor and said he cannot possess firearms or ammunition.
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