FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The brother of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz is asking a judge to allow him to move to Staunton, Va., where a full-time job awaits him.
The attorney for 18-year-old Zachary Cruz filed a motion Thursday saying Cruz has been offered a free home for one year in Staunton. He is on six months' probation for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and needs court permission to leave.
The motion says Zachary Cruz would be hired as a maintenance mechanic paying $13 an hour. His job and living quarters would be provided by Nexus Services, which the motion says specializes in helping people adjust after prison or treatment.
Zachary Cruz was arrested May 1 and charged with violating conditions of his probation by driving a Kia SUV on April 28 without a valid driver’s license and for going within 25 feet of a parking lot of a high school in Lake Worth, local media reported.
The arrest is the second round of trouble for Cruz, who was arrested March 19 at the Parkland campus, which he had been warned to stay away from, according to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper. On March 29, he pleaded no contest to a trespassing charge and received probation and accompanying restrictions.
Cruz, 18, was placed on six months’ probation for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of his brother’s alleged Feb. 14 attack, the newspaper reported. He was also ordered to stay at least a mile away from the school he once attended and any schools unless he was enrolled.
Nexus announced it will provide legal assistance to Zachary Cruz.
Cruz filed suit Thursday against several Broward County officials, saying they violated his Eighth Amendment rights and tortured him during a recent stay in jail, CNN reported.
The lawsuit was announced about two hours before Zachary Cruz appeared in court Thursday afternoon for a probation violation hearing.
Nikolas Cruz faces the death penalty if convicted of the Feb. 14 shooting at Stoneman Douglas that killed 17 people.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.