'I want to remember everything': Families hear more disturbing testimony in Santa Fe HS civil trial
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Attorneys presented on Wednesday disturbing comments they say are from the student accused in the Santa Fe High School mass shooting six years ago.
Accused gunman Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been found incompetent to stand trial criminally, but the ongoing civil trial seeks to hold him and his parents financially responsible.
Chase Yarbrough, who still has four bullets lodged in his body, took the stand.
One bullet is in his head, another in his back, yet another one in his arm, and a final one in his heart.
"I feel so bad that I'm around and their kids are not," he testified. "I just feel guilty inside."
Chase was one of 13 people wounded in the shooting that killed 10, including 17-year-old Jared Black.
"I walked over to where the ambulances were, and I was trying to get into the school. I said, 'My baby's in there. I need to get in there,'" Black's mother, Pamela Stanich, said. "I honestly knew that morning that Jared was gone. I can't even explain it, but I knew he was gone."
Chase's close friend and classmate, Chris Stone, was also killed. His parents both testified on Wednesday.
"When you lose your child in a school shooting, you lose all your rights. They won't tell you nothing. They won't help you with nothing. They won't answer your questions. I have fought, when I tell you I have fought to be where I am today, I did," Stone's mother, Rosie Yanas, testified.
RELATED: 'He's taunting us': Testimony resumes in civil trial against parents of accused Santa Fe HS shooter
Stone's father, also named Chris, but called "Big Chris," has gotten tattoos to remember his son.
On the stand, he recounted one of his favorite memories: the time they accidentally went to go see "Les Miserables" and ended up loving it. They even later traveled to Corpus Christi to see a live performance of the musical.
"We were like, 'Oh, this looks scary. Let's go see it, man.' We walk in, sit down, and within a minute, they start singing," he said while laughing. "I was like, 'What's going on here, man?'"
One of Big Chris' tattoos is a quote from the musical's well-known song about grief, "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."
The accused shooter's parents are being sued for negligence for not securing their guns or getting him mental health treatment.
On Wednesday, the plaintiffs' attorneys presented a survey they say the accused shooter filled out.
It's unclear where the survey is from, but in it, he's being asked, "Do you get along with your parents?"
"No, I don't know why they hate me the way they do," he answered.
"Have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness?" the survey asked.
"No, no one's ever bothered (sic) to see if I had one, so as of now, I have never had a therapy session or taken any kind of medication or been checked for any kind of mental illness," he answered.
"What stereotype would you label yourself as being?" the survey asked.
"School shooter," he answered.
"What is the most annoying question that people ask you?" the survey asked.
"When are you going to shoot up the school? (sarcastically)" he wrote.
Victims' families are seeing Pagourtzis' responses for the first time.
"I spent the rest of my life since I got back trying to remember Chris' life," Stone said. "I want to remember everything about him."
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