Lawyers deliver final statements in the civil lawsuit confronting the parents of the Santa Fe school shooter
Relatives and close ones of the individuals who were sadly targeted in the Santa Fe High School shooting in May 2018 are seeking retribution against Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos. The allegations include their failure to address their son's deteriorating mental state before the tragedy, as well as inadequate gun storage. Witnesses mentioned they had no prior warning signs and had consistently locked up their firearms.
A jury in Galveston, Texas, will eventually decide if the parents are liable for any potential negligence associated with their son's actions.
No criminal charges have been brought against the parents, and the criminal trial for Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who was 17 at the time of the fatal shooting that left 10 dead and 13 injured at the school, has been on indefinite hold after a judge determined him mentally incompetent. He has been residing at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon since December 2019.
The trial featured emotional testimonies from both victims and their families, as well as the shooter's family members.
There have been striking similarities to the historic criminal trial of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose son Ethan Crumbley was responsible for killing four students, injuring six others and a teacher at his Michigan high school in 2021. Both parents were convicted of manslaughter and each received a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.
Alluding to the trial during his closing statements on Friday, the plaintiff's attorney, Clint McGuire, emphasized signs that Dimitrios Pagourtzis's parents were aware of his mental health struggles and neglected to provide appropriate care. He showed evidence of emails discussing their son's distress and their own testament about their awareness of the problem but lack of action.
Defense attorney Lori Laird focused on the shooter's mental illness and shifted the blame to Dimitrios Pagourtzis himself during her closing argument. She argued that the parents did their best to address their son's illness and were not at fault for his actions.
In contrast to the plaintiffs' portrayal of the parents as negligent, Laird defended Kosmetatos as an actively involved mother who cared deeply for her son.
McGuire, on the other hand, suggested that the shooter had a history of academic struggles, absenteeism, poor hygiene, and had publicly displayed a "Born to Kill" t-shirt before the massacre. Despite this, the parents did not secure their firearms properly or seek help for their son, according to McGuire.
Dimitrios Pagourtzis claimed he took nine firearms from his parents' display cabinet four months prior to the shooting, with the intention of them noticing. McGuire argued that the keys to the gun cabinet were left atop the cabinet for easy access.
McGuire also disputed the shooter's claims of insanity, arguing that he was competent enough to understand his actions were wrong. He pointed to various writings that indicated an awareness of the wrongfulness of his plans.
McGuire demanded full compensation for the families of the victims, emphasizing that any less would be considered incomplete and unjust. Survivors of the shooting also testified to lives impacted eternally.
Another victim, Sabika Sheikh, had arrived in Santa Fe, Texas, as an exchange student from Pakistan, said her family's lawyer. "Sabika came to America with aspirations and dreams, but she returned in a casket," he said.
Laird placed blame on Lucky Gunner, a Tennessee-based online retailer that sold the shooter over 100 rounds of ammunition without verifying his age, making it a defendant in the lawsuit. She also accused the school of negligence for not notifying the shooter's parents of his absences and his trench coat, which she characterized as a possible red flag.
Laird disagreed with McGuire's account of the gun cabinet keys, stating they were found in the parents' bedroom and not in a shared space. "They went beyond their duty by trying to store these guns safely, willingly and voluntarily," she said.
The shooter managed to conceal his violent intentions from his family and showed little to no outward signs of the impending crisis, she argued.
"If he was engaged in illegal activities, showed signs of aggression, was into substance abuse, mistreated animals, engaged in arson, or focused on ants with a magnifying glass, then perhaps we'd raise an eyebrow, necessitating an examination," she put forth. "However, his academic performance was dipping, but he never missed a grade. His desire for solitude began to increase slightly. These were the main observable changes."
"No signals of severe depression or invasive mental health issues were detected, nor was any mental health issue present," she declared.
CNN and The Associated Press collaborated in producing this feature.
The parents' legal team argued that they have been proactive in addressing their son's mental health issues, showing evidence of their efforts to seek help and secure their firearms properly.However, the plaintiff's attorney argued that the parents, including Us, failed to provide adequate care despite being aware of their son's distress.
