GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – A closed-door hearing was held in Galveston County to discuss what’s being done to restore the competency of the former Santa Fe high school student accused of murdering eight classmates and two educators during a mass shooting in 2018.
The criminal case has been in limbo for nearly five years and family members of those who were killed and wounded in the attack were at the courthouse waiting to hear what’s being done to get this case back into a courtroom.
The hearing was held behind closed doors because medical treatments were discussed and privacy laws prevent the information from being shared publicly. The entire hearing lasted barely 30 minutes.
“We were just really surprised how fast it was, we really thought it was going to be longer being that it’s been five years that he’s been in there, but I mean, it’s just one of those things that we don’t understand or how the process works,” said Rosie Yanas Stone, Chris Stone’s mother.
Family members were hoping for more specifics about what’s being done to restore Dimitrios Pagourtzis’ competency. Until that happens, he can’t stand trial for the murders of Chris Stone, Shana Fisher, Sabika Sheikh, Kyle McLeod, Christian Garcia, Angelique Ramirez, Kimberly Vaughan, Jared Black, Cynthia Tisdale and Ann Perkins; as well as critically wounding Santa Fe ISD police officer John Barnes.
“It’s too much going back and forth. I mean, at some point, you just got to say, ‘What’s going on, and, you know, how are we going to fix this,’” said Stone.
During Friday’s hearing, Judge Lonnie Cox, prosecutors and defense attorneys heard from the state doctors treating Pagourtzis. Defense attorney Nick Poehl said doctors at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon are on the cusp of starting cognitive behavioral therapy, which works to change a person’s behavior by changing maladaptive thinking.
This will be a new treatment for Pagourtzis.
“It’s not a guarantee. The hope is that it will target the delusions he experiences, but it’s not a lock,” said Poehl.
Pagourtzis was first declared incompetent to stand trial in November 2019. According to state records, it takes doctors at North Texas State Hospital an average of 227 days to restore a person’s competency. Pagourtzis has been undergoing treatment for more than 1,500 days. Poehl declined to say what exactly is his client’s diagnosis.
“His progress has been stalled since about 2022, there hasn’t been significant measurable progress since then,” said Poehl.
Still, Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady said the hearing was by no means an indication the doctors were out of options for restoring Pagourtzis’ competency.
“Based on what we heard today, we are still optimistic about going to trial,” said Roady. “We are certainly not at the point where the hospital has done everything it feels like it can and, certainly, we as the state are not at that point either.”
Families members said they were also told Judge Cox will get more frequent updates on what progress is being made to restore Pagourtzis’ competency. Friday’s hearing was a continuation of discussions with state doctors that began last summer when the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys visited the state hospital in Vernon.
“So, that’s a positive that at least today they’re not saying like, ‘Ok, we’re done, we can’t do anything for him,” said Scot Rice, whose wife Flo was critically wounded during the attack.
