FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Zachary Cruz, the younger brother of Parkland mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, has settled a federal lawsuit that accused the Broward County Sheriff's Office, prosecutors and a judge of "torturing" him and violating his civil rights, according to court documents.
The lawsuit was filed in March 2018 after Zachary Cruz was arrested for trespassing after he skateboarded onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where his brother allegedly killed 17 students and employees on Feb. 14, 2018. Nikolas Cruz, now 20, is facing the death penalty.
Court documents show that the case was closed May 1 and that Zachary Cruz, a one-time Lantana-area resident who now lives in Virginia, will receive a settlement of $3,000.
The lawsuit, filed by Virginia-based Nexus Derechos Humanos, claimed that the younger Cruz was the victim of "an extortive campaign of intimidation because of the identity of his brother."
Cruz's attorneys charged that authorities "conspired" to keep their client in jail by holding him on $500,000 bond for trespassing, a second-degree misdemeanor that typically brings a $25 bond. A prosecutor had said at the time that Zachary Cruz showed the "same flags" as his brother.
Cruz, 19, suffered "dehumanizing treatment" while he was held in custody including being deprived of sleep with 24-hour "intense" lighting, intimidating behavior by guards, 24-hour restraints and other procedures "that amount to torture under the Geneva Convention," according to the group.
The defendants were originally listed as BSO Capt. Sherea Green, a member of the Broward jail's executive staff, State Attorney Michael Satz, Assistant State Attorney Sarahnell Murphy and Broward County Judge Kim Theresa Mollica.
Only Green remained as a defendant when the lawsuit was settled this week.
While the lawsuit resulted in a modest payoff for Cruz, he and his brother are entitled to share more than $860,000 from an insurance policy filed by their adopted mother, who died in late 2017, according to a court motion.
Zachary Cruz has been living in Virginia since last year with Mike Donovan and Richard Moore, co-founders of a bond-servicing company.
Representatives for BSO and Nexus Derechos Humanos could not be reached for comment Thursday.
