A nasty legal dispute between the most seriously injured survivor of the 2018 Parkland High School massacre and the families of some of the 17 slain victims was resolved Monday, with all sides now owning an equal share of the publicity rights to the murderer and an annuity he could receive.

Under an agreement signed by Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips, survivor Anthony Borges, the families of slain students Meadow Pollack, Luke Hoyer and Alaina Petty and fellow survivor Maddy Wilford now control any attempts by shooter Nikolas Cruz to profit of your name or image. or give interviews. Each of the five parties has veto power.

They would also split a $400,000 annuity left to him by Cruz’s late mother, if he ever receives it. The victims’ families and Wilford have said they would donate their portion to charity. Borges’ lawyer, Alex Arreaza, has said his client needs the money for future medical expenses.

The agreement was reached a day before the parties were scheduled to argue before Phillips over whether a June agreement that Borges, 21, and his parents had reached with Cruz should be scrapped. He would have given Borges ownership of Cruz’s name and image, approval of any interviews he might grant, and the annuity. Cruz shot the once-promising soccer star five times in the torso and legs and nearly bled to death. He has undergone numerous surgeries.

Lawyers for Wilford, who was shot four times, and the families of Pollack, Hoyer and Petty quickly responded with their own $190 million settlement with Cruz, which they admit they will never receive.

They said the agreement with Borges had taken them by surprise, saying there had been a verbal agreement to work together on his lawsuit against Cruz. Other families of victims and survivors had not chosen to be part of that lawsuit.

“The purpose of the agreement (with Borges) was to prevent Cruz from giving statements. That is now shared with the other parents. That was never a problem,” Arreaza said in a statement.

David Brill, the lead attorney for the families and Wilford, said Arreaza and the Borges family “capitulated.” He emphasized that the five victims and families in the settlement now have a say in whether Cruz ever speaks publicly, not just Borges.

“This agreed order fully validates the position we took and for which the Borgeses and their attorney, Alex Arreaza, blatantly vilified us,” Brill said in a statement.

The fight became public at a court hearing in September when each side accused the other of lying. An exasperated Phillips at one point compared their argument to a contested divorce, one she was granting. He urged the parties to negotiate an agreement.

The animosity began during negotiations over how to split a $25 million settlement reached in 2021 with Broward County schools. The families of the 17 murdered insisted that Borges receive $1 less than they would have received in recognition that they suffered the greatest loss.

Arreaza believed Borges deserved $5 million from that fund since he will have lifelong medical expenses. That resulted in his client being kicked out of the group when he didn’t budge. The fight continued during negotiations over a $127 million settlement that families and surviving victims reached with the FBI for failing to investigate a report that Cruz was planning a mass shooting. The Borges finally reached their own settlements.

All of the victims’ families, survivors and others who suffered mental anguish from the shooting still have a lawsuit pending against Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson, who was assigned to the school. They say he didn’t chase Cruz during his six-minute rampage. Peterson was acquitted of criminal charges last year. Also sued are the sheriff’s office and two former school security guards.

A trial date for that lawsuit has not been set.

Cruz, 26, pleaded guilty to the shootings in 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2022 after a jury spared him the death penalty.

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