HOUSTON, Texas – The long-awaited civil trial against the parents of the gunman who opened fire killing and injuring several students and teachers at Santa Fe High School got underway Monday.
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The trial comes six years after eight students and two teachers were killed inside Santa Fe High School in 2018 when gunman Dimitrios Pagourtzis went on a shooting rampage.
The criminal case against Pagourtzis remains at a standstill because he remains incompetent to stand trial. Doctors at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon have been working to restore his competency since 2019.
Pagourtzis has been in the hospital for 1,702 days as of July 29. According to state data obtained by KPRC 2 Investigates, the average time it took doctors in North Texas to restore a defendant’s competency was 229 days in fiscal year 2022, 227 days in fiscal year 2023, and 126 days in fiscal year 2024.
A civil lawsuit filed against his parents by several family members accuses the parents of Pagourtzis of not doing more to spot signs of mental illness in their son and for not preventing him from getting access to firearms in the home. Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos have denied any wrongdoing.
KPRC 2 Investigative reporter Robert Arnold is following the trial closely and will provide ongoing updates throughout the day.
1:30 p.m.
The first day was pretty much over, the media was not allowed to participate in the questionnaire process and the potential jurors were let go after submitting their questionnaires.
12:32 p.m.
There is a panel of 150 potential jurors who are currently filling out a questionnaire and will return Tuesday for voir dire. The judge is not releasing the questionnaire. They are looking to select 12 jurors plus two alternates.
Noon
Some procedural details, including the schedule and jury pool processing, are still being figured out. While the expectation is to start opening statements on Wednesday, it remains uncertain, and families are not present today in court.
9:56 a.m.
New court documents regarding the Santa Fe trial dropped. Robert Arnold is going through documents for the latest details.
9:00 a.m.
Jurors started being sorted into different courts.
