Texas Jury Founds Parents Not Liable For Santa Fe School Shooting

A Texas jury deliberated on Monday whether the parents of the shooter that killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in 2018 should be held accountable. It found that Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, fathers of the shooter, are not liable for negligence.

After a three-week civil trial, a Galveston County jury cleared the couple of wrong-doing in a lawsuit that sought to hold them financially liable for the shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018. According to the Associated Press, the victims were pursuing at least $1 million in damages.

Attorneys for the victims claimed that parents failed to provide necessary support to their son, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, and that they failed to prevent him from accessing their guns.

“If someone commits a crime, we hold that person responsible for the crime they committed, not the parents,” said Lori Laird, an attorney for the defense. “What we should be looking at is what’s reasonable in a case like this.”

According to reports, Dimitrios used firearms legally owned by his father to shoot and kill eight students and two teachers at Santa Fe High School. He was 17 at the time of the shooting.

Despite the verdict, Clint McGuire, an attorney for the plaintiffs said that the case helped to raise awareness about shootings and firearms safety. 

“This is one of the largest verdicts in Galveston County history,” McGuire said. “We didn’t get the ultimate outcome we wanted, but we made progress.”

He also said there are currently no plans to appeal the jury’s verdict.

According to Click 2 Houson, the lawsuit was filed by relatives of seven of the people killed and four of the 13 wounded in the shooting.

Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder, however the trial has been on hold since November 2019, when he was declared incompetent to stand trial due to mental health issues. Since then, Pagourtzis has been found not competent to stand trial two additional times, one on February 1, 2024, and recently on January 26, 2024. He is being held at a state mental health facility.

Laird told the Houston Chronicle that she expects the verdict will be an opportunity for both parents and plaintiffs to start the healing process.

“I wish so many good things for the plaintiffs,” Laird said. “I hope that this does give them some kind of closure. I hope it gives them the ability to look forward and for great things to happen.”