Las Vegas Review-Journal

Shooting suspect Cruz receiving bags of fan mail

- The Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The suspect in the Florida high school shooting that killed 17 is getting letters of support in jail including fan mail and pictures of scantily clad women in addition to hundreds of dollars in contributi­ons to his commissary account.

Teenage girls, women and men are sending letters and photograph­s of themselves and Facebook groups have been started to discuss how to help Nikolas Cruz, the South Florida Sun-sentinel reports.

Cruz is charged in the killings of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and is being held in the Broward County Jail. Prosecutor­s said they are seeking the death penalty.

The newspaper obtained copies of letters, including one from a woman who called Cruz “beautiful” and others with suggestive photos.

Cruz, who is on suicide watch, has not seen any of the letters, which are opened by the jail.

On March 15, a teenager sent a letter from Texas inside an envelope with happy faces and hearts.

“I’m 18-years-old. I’m a senior in high school. When I saw your picture on the television, something attracted me to you,” the letter stated. “Your eyes are beautiful and the freckles on your face make you so handsome.”

Another letter told Cruz to “Hang in there and keep your head up” and another mailed six days after the shooting said “I reserve the right to care about you, Nikolas!”

Public Defender Howard Finkelstei­n, Cruz’s lawyer, told the newspaper that his client has indeed received “piles of letters.”

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