Jury selection begins in civil trial against accused Santa Fe High School shooter's parents

A lawsuit was filed by the victims' families and survivors of the Santa Fe HS shooting in 2018 where 10 people were killed.

ByMycah Hatfield

Monday, July 29, 2024

Civil trial starts for accused Santa Fe HS shooter's parents

The civil trial against the parents of Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the accused shooter in the Santa Fe High School tragedy in 2018, began on Monday.

SANTA FE, Texas (KTRK) -- Jury selection began on Monday in the civil trial against the parents of student Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who is accused of fatally shooting 10 people at Santa Fe High School in May 2018.

A trial date was set back in February by a Galveston County judge after the victims' families and survivors filed the civil suit.

The suit alleges Pagourtzis' parents failed to secure their weapons properly, which allowed the teen to gain access to them. The lawsuit also says the parents failed to get him the mental health counseling that he needed.

In a motion filed by Pagourtzis' parents last week, they said they do not have a duty to control the conduct of others and that the injury to the plaintiffs was caused only by their son.

A then 17-year-old Pagourtzis is accused of walking into an art class inside the school at 7:30 a.m. and opening fire, prompting a lockdown and mass student evacuation before he was placed into custody.

In addition to the 10 people killed, 13 others were wounded.

The attorneys for the plaintiffs, Pagourtzis, and his parents met with the judge to review pre-trial motions and determine what evidence will be allowed during the trial.

"We will be asking to introduce any statements that Dimitrios made following and before the incident about what occurred," attorney for the plaintiffs, Clint McGuire, said.

Pagourtzis' attorney, Roberto Torres, said there were disagreements on motions but would not go into detail. He said most of the motions were agreed upon by both sides.

Pagourtzis, now 23 years old, was found incompetent to stand trial as his attorneys pleaded to the court that the suspect's mental status had "deteriorated" and that he did not have a recollection of the shooting, nor did he understand the case set before him.

The accused shooter is being held at a mental facility as the criminal case will be re-evaluated sometime in 2025, officials said.

Santa Fe Mayor Brandon Noto penned a letter to the U.S. Attorney General Monday formally requesting an investigation by the Department of Justice into the shooting. The letter was in support of a request to the DOJ made by the victims two months ago for an investigation.

"To this day, the perpetrator has not stood trial for his actions, and there is still so much we do not know leading up to and immediately following this tragedy," Noto wrote.

He went on to call for the DOJ to issue an apology to the victims and the victims' families.

"The form response issued by the Department to a previous request for an investigation states, 'in your letter, you request an investigation into the Columbine shooting,'" Noto wrote.

Noto said they referred to the incorrect shooting, which is "ridiculous and shows a total disregard for the lives that were lost that day."

Opening statements for his parents' trial will begin on Wednesday. Attorneys said the trial is expected to last three weeks.

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