HOUSTON, Texas – More than 100 potential jurors have entered the voir dire process in the civil trial against the parents of Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the gunman accused of killing 10 people in the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting.
Tuesday marks the second day of jury selection, from an initial panel of 150 potential jurors provided with a questionnaire by Judge Jack Ewing. After completing the questionnaire, the potential jurors were sent home. On Tuesday, the jury pool was reduced from 115 to 99, who then entered the voir dire process, where prosecutors and defense attorneys determine if a person can set aside their biases to serve on a jury.
By the end of the day on Tuesday, the prosecutors and defense attorneys aim to have a jury of 12, along with two alternates, seated, with opening statements set to begin on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
This comes after several family members of those killed and injured during the shooting sued the parents of Pagourtzis.
Their lawsuit claims Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos should have done more to seek mental health treatments for their son and to ensure he did not have access to firearms.
Antonios and Kosmetatos have denied any wrongdoing.
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 1,703 days as of July 30. According to state data obtained by KPRC 2 Investigates, the average time it took doctors at 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.
On Monday, shortly after jury selection began, Santa Fe Mayor Brandon Noto sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General, requesting an apology for the response that the family and Mike Matranga received after seeking an independent investigation into the police response to the 2018 mass shooting at Santa Fe High School.
KPRC 2 Investigates reported on July 19, that the DOJ responded to a request sent by Matranga, who is a retired Secret Service agent, former head of safety for Texas City ISD and now runs M6 Global Defense, which specializes in school security and safety. Matranga said he sent the request on behalf of the families.
Matranga shared the response letter he received from the DOJ, which never mentions Santa Fe but instead reads, “You request an investigation into the Columbine shooting.”
Since then, Matranga, Santa Fe’s mayor, and U.S. Rep Randy Weber are just among the few leaders who have called for the DOJ to issue an apology to the Santa Fe victims and their families.
The civil trial is expected to last three weeks, according to attorneys.