Jury begins deliberations in civil trial against admitted Santa Fe High School shooter's parents
Closing arguments concluded in the civil case against Dimitrios Pagourtzis' parents on Friday.
GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- It was an emotional day at the Galveston County courthouse Friday as attorneys gave their closing arguments in the Santa Fe High School shooting civil trial.
The parents of the admitted shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, are both being sued, with families of the victims alleging that, as parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Maria Kosmetatos should have both secured the family's guns and gotten their son mental health treatment.
On May 18, 2018, 10 people - eight students and two teachers - were fatally shot, and 13 others were wounded in the school shooting. Pagourtzis was 17 years old at the time. The Galveston County District Attorney's Office has deemed him incompetent to stand trial, and he remains in custody at North Texas State Hospital.
The victims and their families have sat through weeks of grueling testimony.
The jury, composed of eight men and four women, was sent to deliberate at about 4:50 p.m. Friday.
Jurors were given 24 charges to respond to. Each charge has multiple questions they will be asked to answer.
During closing arguments, Clint McGuire, the victims' attorney, said the case is about justice and accountability.
"We are here because (Pagourtzis and Kosmetatos) refused to accept any responsibility," McGuire said. "It was their son under their roof with their guns who went and committed this mass shooting."
McGuire showed the shirt that Dimitrios wore during the shooting that read, "Born to kill," and excerpts from his journal, one of which reads, "What I do will both have an immeasurable impact and be incredibly miniscule. I will have destroyed bloodlines spanning thousands of years." He told jurors that the then-17-year-old had intent with what he was doing.
He urged the jurors to award each of the families of the deceased and each of the surviving victims $25 million each.
The attorneys for each of the victims took time during their one-hour and 20-minute closing argument to speak about each victim and their experience on May 18, 2018. Many of the attorneys were choked up while they spoke.
"We can't send our kids to school and bring them home in body bags," McGuire said.
Alton Todd represents Rhonda Hart, whose daughter, Kimberly Vaughan, was killed during the shooting. He said, "You could fill this room with money. Each one of these parents wants their child back. But money is all you can award. That's all. Nobody goes to jail. It's money. Your money will say something. It's not what it is. It's what it will say, and it needs to be heard loudly."
When Pagourtzis and Kosmetatos' attorney, Lori Laird, spoke, she said, "The reality is they are trying to make a case out of nothing. They are looking at little things that an ordinary person would not see as problematic and turn it into something that it's not."
She said that her clients did not know that their son was battling mental illness or planning the mass shooting. During her arguments, Laird showed photos on a projector of Dimitrios days before the shooting and pointed out that he looked normal.
The attorney quoted Socrates, saying, "You don't know what you don't know."
"He was sneaky, he was sly, he didn't want to get caught," Laird said.
Laird encouraged jurors to put their emotions aside to "effectively evaluate the facts of the case."
She argued that they are trying to hold the parents accountable for something that also made them victims.
Antonios, now 23, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. His attorney, Roberto Torres, said his client is not a monster despite being referred to as one in the trial. He said he did a "monstrous" thing.
Torres said it is easy to "pick on one severely mentally disturbed young man who is going through a living hell" rather than blaming his parents or the gun industry.
He said Pagourtzis had a demon and was in the "mother of all psychotic hurricanes" at the time of the shooting and that he "didn't have a chance."
"Let's blame the sick guy," Torres said.
The final witness in the case on Thursday was the psychiatrist who interviewed the admitted gunman. He told the jurors it was apparent during their interview that he suffered from a psychotic illness.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Psychiatrist paints disturbing image of Santa Fe HS suspect's mental state
Dimitrios was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, Tourettes, social anxiety disorder, psychosis, OCD, a probable transvestite disorder, and anorexia, which was in remission.
Other witnesses who spoke during the trial include Pagourtzis' father and younger sister.
His father, Antonios, said he didn't know his son had mental issues, which attorneys argued were evident due to falling grades, antisocial behavior, and an obsession with weapons.
READ MORE: Suspected Santa Fe HS shooter's sister testifies about upbringing as parents' attorneys present case
Antonios denied any responsibility in the shooting but said he wishes he would have been able to prevent what happened. He acknowledged that his son destroyed several lives on May 18, 2018.
When asked if he thought his son should be held accountable for what he did, he said he would leave that to a judge but that he destroyed his own life.
Pagourtzis' younger sister, Vasiliki Gerbsoti, who is now 20 years old, testified that neither of her parents were abusive. She testified that she and her brother had a standard upbringing.
She said she had not noticed any changes to Pagourtzis' behavior or personality before the shooting.
Because this is a civil trial, the jury won't need a unanimous decision. Only 10 of the 12 jurors will have to agree on the decision.
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