The Parkland shooter's public defenders say he should use inheritance money to hire new lawyers

The money is half of a life insurance inheritance worth $864,929.17.

In its motion to withdraw from the case, the public defenders' office said it is prohibited from representing a non-indigent person.

Gordon Weekes, with the public defender's office, said the the money comes from the estate of Cruz's adoptive mother, who died in November 2017.

Cruz massacred 17 people and injured 17 others at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, in February 2018. It is the deadliest high school shooting in US history.

The trial will not begin until 2020 at the earliest, according to reports from local media.

Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty for Cruz, saying the shooting was "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."

His public defenders have said there is no question he did it, and he's willing to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty.

CNN's Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.

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