A trial in the case of the Santa Fe High School shooting is underway in Galveston — the first time in court for the survivors and the victims’ families.
The shooter’s parents are facing a civil lawsuit, as the shooter has been deemed incompetent to stand trial.
Adam Zuvanich, who is following the trial for Houston Public Media, said three different judges have ordered the shooter be committed to a state hospital since the shooting took place in 2018.
“The shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, when he was 17 years old – a high school senior at Santa Fe High School in 2018 – killed ten, injured 13 others,” Zuvanich said. “The criminal trial is indefinitely on hold. The families of the victims, as well as some of the survivors, filed a civil lawsuit.
Some have said this is kind of the forgotten school shooting because there has been no criminal trial. There’s yet to be any accountability through the court system. So this for the families – they’re finally getting their day in court, looking for a measure of justice and perhaps also a sense of closure.”
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The trial started Wednesday with opening statements from both sides. The lead attorneys for the victims focused on all the ways their side feels the parents should have known what was going to happen.
“They’re really, really putting responsibility on the parents saying they should have been aware of some of the alleged mental health challenges that were going on with their son,” Zuvanich said.
“They also say they should have done better at storing their guns. The family’s guns were used to carry out the attack, according to the plaintiffs and their attorney. You know, they said yesterday that there was a gun cabinet in the living room and that Dimitrios didn’t have a job but bought over $1,700 worth of ammunition and other items that were delivered to the home.”
The parents’ lawyers focused the blame elsewhere: on the ammunition and fulfillment companies that sold and delivered the ammo to their son.
“The defense, they’ve claimed that they should not have responsibility, that their son kept these things hidden from them, that they really didn’t know what was going on,” Zuvanich said. “They’re also pointing to the ammunition company that sold him the ammunition.
It’s a company out of Tennessee, Lucky Gunner. … There was also a fulfillment company, Red Stag Fulfillment, that delivered a lot of these goods. They were also sued. They were part of the civil lawsuit that was filed by the families, and they settled. They reached a settlement in early 2023. They’re no longer part of this case, but their role in this is being brought back up by the defense.”
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There is precedent for the parent of a minor who commits a mass shooting to be sentenced — but that was through a criminal trial, not a civil one.
“There was a teenager in Michigan in 2021 who shot and killed four of his classmates and, in a criminal case, his parents were found responsible. They were both convicted of involuntary manslaughter earlier this year,” Zuvanich said. “The parents in this case, the Santa Fe shooter, are not facing criminal charges. But in this case, along the same lines, they’re seeking to hold the parents accountable.”
Zuvanich said it is also possible the families of the victims and the survivors will get access to evidence in the case that has been sealed for years because the criminal trial has been delayed.
“Mayes Middleton, a state lawmaker from the Galveston area, ushered through a law that was passed that allowed the parents to see some evidence from the Galveston County District Attorney’s office, which is going to handle the prosecution in the criminal case if it ever gets to trial,” Zuvanich said.
“The DA’s office also has provided some evidence to the attorneys working on the civil case. So some of that is expected to come out during the course of the trial. … I don’t think the DA’s office has turned over everything they have, but there should be some evidence and information that comes to light, 6 years after this happened.”
