HOUSTON, Texas – The civil trial against the parents of Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who is accused of the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, has entered its 11th day.
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So far, we’ve heard testimonies from several families of the 10 people who were killed, including those who were injured, when Pagourtzis allegedly entered Santa Fe High School in 2018 and began opening fire.
The parents and loved ones of the 10 killed are now calling for Pagourtzis’ parents to be held responsible for the shooting, as well.
KPRC 2 has covered the trial since day 1, bringing you extensive details from the courtroom.
5:18 p.m. - Court adjourned will begin Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
4:37 p.m. - Rose Maria Kosmetatos’ cross-examined by Roberto Torres
Torres asked Kosmetatos if the guns were safeguarded properly to prevent what happened, and she answered, “No.”
Torres cited Kosmetatos’ blame for Luckygunner and the school, asking if she also didn’t do her due diligence. “You weren’t in my home,” she responded.
Kosmetatos was then asked if she saw it as a red flag that she was having to remind her teenage son to clean and bathe himself. She said she assumed he was just being lazy.
4:17 p.m. - Rose Maria Kosmetatos’ cross-examined by Alton Todd
Todd asked Kosmetatos if Dimitrios had become quieter, and she responded that her son had always been quiet until you got to know him. Todd mentioned Dimitrios’ decline started in the summer of 2017, but Kosmetatos said she “didn’t think it was that bad,” but did admit he became more isolated.
Todd asked Kosmetatos if she believed that she let her son down and she said if she did, she didn’t mean to.
3:11 p.m. - Rose Maria Kosmetatos’ cross-examination continues
When the court resumed again, the plaintiff’s attorney Clint McGuire continued the cross-examination of Kosmetatos.
McGuire asked Kosmetatos if she told Dr. Bradley Peterson that she had threatened to leave her husband many times, but ultimately, left that decision to her children. She said he was citing a singular incident.
Kosmetatos said Dimitrios was smart and made straight-As in school when he was younger. McGuire read Dimitrios’ journal, in which he said he used to have good grades but didn’t “care anymore.”
McGuire quoted several of Dimitrios’ grades at the time of the shooting—which was between 49 and 69—and cited 57 unexcused absences. Kosmetatos acknowledged that these were a massive red flag.
McGuire said Dimitrios wrote about cutting himself, but Kosmetatos said she never saw any signs of that.
Kosmetatos said she did Dimitrios’ laundry and was in his room and closet every day. She said she checked his computer one time, and she wasn’t aware of his 57 absences. Kosmetatos also said her husband told her she should’ve checked his computer after the shooting happened. She said she didn’t think she needed to check it because he was 17-and-a-half.
McGuire asked about 29 package deliveries made to their home, but RMK said she never saw anything delivered other than a t-shirt, baseball cap and some “John Lennon glasses.” She said she wasn’t aware of the other items, including ammo.
McGuire then asked if Kosmetatos thought Luckygunner was partially to blame for selling Dimitrios the ammo, which she agreed with. He then asked if the school was partially to blame, and she said yes because she was never informed that Dimitrios was wearing a trench coat to school every day, which violates school policy. She said she doesn’t blame the police for what her son did, but they could have watched better and seen him entering the school with the trench coat and duffel bag.
Dimitrios said he drank alcohol, but Kosmetatos said he never drank at home, and there were no signs of missing alcohol from the home.
McGuire then asked Kosmetatos to answer if the following statements from Dimitrios’ computer were true:
- Straight As before 8th grade: True.
- Wanted to join the military: Had discussed once while DP was in 11th grade.
- He had no relationships and hated how he was treated at school: Kosmetatos said DP never told her this, and he suffered in silence if he truly felt that way.
Upon reading those statements, McGuire asked Kosmetatos if she still felt she had no responsibility for the shooting. Kosmetatos asked, “For what my 17-and-a-half-year-old did?” She reiterated that she stored the weapons safely.
3:11 p.m. - Clint McGuire cross-examines Rose Maria Kosmetatos
When court resumed, the plaintiff’s attorney Clint McGuire cross-examined Kosmetatos.
First, McGuire confirmed with Kosmetatos that Dimitrios used her handgun and his father’s shotgun in the shooting, which he acquired while living with them. He also asked her if the keys to the gun cabinet and safe were her responsibility, which she acknowledged to be true.
Kosmetatos told police that she hid the keys to the safe and cabinet among other valuable items, but she wasn’t explicitly hiding them from her son. According to Kosmetatos, her son told her that he found the keys while “searching the house.”
According to reports, Dimitrios told Dr. Bradley Peterson, who examined him and interviewed the family after the shooting, that he retrieved the keys to the cabinet from the top of it. Kosmetatos said she was told something different by her son, and she didn’t keep the keys there.
McGuire then asked Kosmetatos about members of her family’s mental health. She admitted that her brother committed suicide a month before the shooting but said she didn’t know if her mother suffered from depression. She also admitted that she had suffered from depression in her teen years.
When asked if she knew Dimitrios had emotional or mental health issues, she said she could tell he “Wasn’t himself,” but she didn’t know why and had hoped it would pass.
McGuire then read a statement from Dimitrios, which reportedly reflects what he told his mother the day before the shooting:
“Why are you acting like this, are you depressed? Maybe I should have let your dad beat the s*** out of you when you were younger. Maybe I should have beat the s*** out of you?”
McGuire then asked Kosmetatos if Dimitrios was lying in quoting her. She responded: “I did not say that statement. The first part, maybe.”
McGuire then another statement from Dimitrios:
“I’m so sick of dealing with the constant threat of violence.”
The mother said her son was lying and that he was never touched.
McGuire then asked Kosmetatos if she recalled telling Dr. Peterson that her husband was prone to fits of rage and violence. She said she never said “violence,” but said he “had a temper.” She said she never would’ve told Dr. Peterson that there was any physical violence in the house. While it may have been described as “tense,” she said there was “fear.”
The judge then called for a quick recess.
2:53 p.m. - Court takes a break
2:00 p.m. - Rose Maria Kosmetatos resumes testimony
When Kosmetatos resumed her testimony, defense counsel Lori Laird began questioning the mother about her son’s grades during the spring semester of 2018, noting that despite failing grades, he still passed three classes. Kosmetatos said she was confused about a school report that said Dimitrios missed 57 days of school, saying that it was ‘impossible for Dimitrios to have missed that many days without the school notifying her.’ Kosmetatos said that she had regularly checked the school portal and had informed teachers about a family death that caused DP to miss a few days, but nowhere near 57 days. She said even then, no teacher mentioned excessive absences or her son skipping classes.
Laird questioned whether the school failed to notify Kosmetatos about the absences, to which she agreed, stating she would have acted if informed. Kosmetatos also shared that Dimitrios would regularly call her from school, and she never received any notification regarding a plagiarism incident in his forensic science class, but instead said she found out when she checked his portal and saw that he received a zero so decided to look into it.
The testimony then shifted to Kosmetatos’ personal history, where she discussed her struggles with depression as a teenager and mentioned strict parenting and corporal punishment during her childhood. Kosmetatos recounted an incident of shoplifting in her early teens, and shared her concern over Dimitrios’ changing behavior during his junior year, such as preferring to stay home on weekends, becoming quieter, and locking the door when home alone.
Kosmetatos detailed how she learned about the shooting, saying she received a call from a friend while at work. The mother said she tried to contact her son, but was told by another parent that Dimitrios might be the shooter, which left her in shock and disbelief. She recounted the overwhelming feeling of devastation and the subsequent diagnosis of PTSD. Kosmetatos admitted to feeling betrayed by her son, saying she ‘replay everything in her mind, trying to understand when she lost her son.’
1:39 p.m. - Court back in session. The defense is taking Rose Maria Kosmetatos out of ordering for scheduling purposes. A doctor will now testify
Pediatric nephrologist from UTMB, Dr. Shivaiah Balachandra takes the stand due to scheduling purposes. Dimitrios’ mom, Kosmetatos will resume her testimony after Dr. Balachandra finishes.
Dimitrios’ mom, Kosmetatos, works as an administrative assistant for Dr. Balachandra.
Dr. Balachandra, whose testimony was brief, said he helped Dimitrios build his computer, which he was very excited about receiving. Dr. Balachandra said he considered Kosmetatos as family and denied Dimitrios needed a mental evaluation before the shooting.
12:30 p.m. - Court on lunch
11:34 a.m. - Court back in session. Rose Maria Kosmetatos resumes testimony
During cross-examination, Rose Maria Kosmetatos was questioned about any significant changes in her son’s behavior during the summer between his sophomore and junior years. The mother said that there were no major changes and that her son seemed happy after returning from a trip to Greece with his father and sister.
When asked about her husband’s temperament, Kosmetatos acknowledged that while there were occasional arguments and instances of him raising his voice, but denied any violence. She mentioned that he had thrown objects like a cell phone and remote during the World Cup, but never at anyone, and denied any instances of him threatening or hitting their children.
The testimony shifted to a difficult time for the family when Kosmetatos said her mother suffered a store and their family’s home was damaged by a hurricane. She said despite the challenges, she still tried her best to work with her son and support him in academics and sports.
Regarding the firearms in the house, Kosmetatos said that she primarily kept the keys to the gun safe in a closet behind comforters. She said she was certain the children did not know where to find the keys, although evidence showed Dimitrios eventually found them when he was home alone. Kosmetatos also addressed Dimitrios’ request for a duster for a school project, noting that she only saw him wear it the day it arrived.
On the day of the shooting, Kosmetatos described having a seemingly normal morning, helping her daughter get ready for a field trip before leaving for work. She said she last saw Dimitrios around 6:15 a.m., and nothing appeared unusual.
11:05 a.m. - Court on break
10: 00 a.m. - Trial resumes. Dimitrios Pagourtzis’ mother, Rose Maria Kosmetatos, takes the stand
Rose Maria Kosmetatos took the stand on Tuesday, describing her son as a bright, normal child with no significant issues growing up. During questioning by defense counsel Lori Laird, Rose Maria Kosmetatos shared that when speaking with a psychiatrist after the shooting, she was still trying to process what her son had done. She said DP became more fidgety as he grew older but exhibited no concerning behaviors. She said her son was involved in various activities like soccer, piano, and karate.
Rose Maria Kosmetatos said her husband, Dimitrios’ father, traveled for work about 20% of the time, and when he was home, he was actively involved in their children’s lives, including coaching Dimitrios’ soccer team. The mother said she read to the kids every night and her husband sometimes joined.
When Dimitrios was in elementary school, Rose Maria Kosmetatos said she did not notice any concerning behaviors, and he only had surgery for ear infections in 3rd grade, which went well. Between 6th and 8th grade, she said Dimitrios transitioned from band to football and later ran track and played soccer. Rose Maria Kosmetatos acknowledged that as her son got older, he became more introverted and less comfortable in large crowds.
Although the court showed in Dimitrios’ journal that he felt alone, his mother said he had a close friend in junior high school. Rose Maria Kosmetatos noted that there were no indications in junior high that DP needed a mental health evaluation, and his only struggle was with Algebra. She said Dimitrios became interested in video games in high school, and while she was initially reluctant, she allowed it after he maintained good grades, setting limits on his gaming time.
The mother admitted to being a bit of a “helicopter parent” but stated it was out of love.
In 9th grade, she said Dimitrios struggled with AP classes, particularly with time management. Rose Maria Kosmetatos said she grew concerned when he skipped tutoring, leading her to email his teacher and coach.
Rose Maria Kosmetatos said when her son got a phone in the seventh grade that she would go through it and did not find anything unusual.
Rose Maria Kosmetatos described her son’s experience in 10th grade, where he participated in football and Greek dancing with his church group. She said Dimitrios faced physical and emotional challenges in football, particularly after injuring his hip flexors, which sidelined him for most of the season. Rose Maria Kosmetatos said she suggested to her son that she should quit football, but he was indecisive. He was upset that despite attending every practice, he wasn’t being played, leading her to email the coach. The coach responded that Dimitrios wasn’t playing because of his injury, which she said DP took hard.
The mother then recounted two incidents where she said her son was given the wrong address by the coach for offensive lineman meetings, leading him to show up at empty houses. She said she was disappointed and upset about how the coaches handled these situations, but Dimitrios asked her not to contact them again after the second incident.
Despite these challenges, Rose Maria Kosmetatos said that Dimitrios didn’t fail any classes, receive detentions, or in-school suspensions in his sophomore year. She said he even won a Kindle for perfect attendance and chose not to quit football. Rose Maria Kosmetatos mentioned that she noticed that Dimitrios was more introverted compared to his younger sister, who was more outgoing.
Stay updated on Santa Fe Trial:
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