Jury begins deliberations after closing argument in Santa Fe High School shooting civil case against parents of Dimitrios Pagourtzis

GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — It was an emotional day Friday at the Galveston County Courthouse as attorneys made their closing arguments in the civil trial over the Santa Fe High School shooting.

Lawsuits have been filed against the parents of the confessed shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis. The victims' families claim that, as parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Maria Kosmetatos should have secured the family's weapons and also arranged for psychiatric treatment for their son.

On May 18, 2018, ten people – eight students and two teachers – were shot and 13 others injured in the school shooting. Pagourtzis was 17 years old at the time. The Galveston County District Attorney's Office has declared him incompetent to stand trial and he remains in custody at the North Texas State Hospital.

The victims and their families had to endure weeks of exhaustive testimony.

The jury, consisting of eight men and four women, was convened for deliberations on Friday at around 4:50 p.m.

The jury was presented with 24 charges to which they had to respond. They had to answer several questions on each charge.

In his closing argument, victims' attorney Clint McGuire said the case was about justice and accountability.

“We're here because (Pagourtzis and Kosmetatos) refused to take responsibility,” McGuire said. “It was their son under their roof with their guns who went out and committed this mass shooting.”

McGuire showed the shirt Dimitrios was wearing during the shooting, which read “Born to kill,” and excerpts from his diary, one of which reads: “What I do will have both immeasurable implications and be incredibly minor. I will have destroyed bloodlines that go back thousands of years.” He told jurors that the then 17-year-old had an intention in what he did.

He asked the jury to award $25 million each to the families of the deceased and the surviving victims.

During their one-hour and 20-minute closing arguments, the victims' attorneys took the time to speak about each victim and their experiences on May 18, 2018. Many of the attorneys were moved during their speech.

“We can’t send our children to school and then bring them home in body bags,” McGuire said.

Alton Todd is representing Rhonda Hart, whose daughter Kimberly Vaughan was killed in the shooting. He said, “You could fill this room with money. Every one of these parents wants their child back. But money is all you can give. That's all. Nobody goes to jail. It's money. Your money is going to say something. It's not what it is. It's what it's going to say, and that needs to be heard loudly.”

When Pagourtzis and Kosmetatos' attorney, Lori Laird, spoke, she said, “The reality is they're trying to make a case out of nothing. They're looking at little things that a normal person wouldn't consider problematic and making it into something that it's not.”

She said her clients did not know her son suffered from mental illness or planned the mass shooting. During her argument, Laird showed photos of Dimitrios on a projector from the days before the shooting and emphasized that he looked normal.

The lawyer quoted Socrates as saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

“He was sneaky and clever. He didn't want to get caught,” Laird said.

Laird urged jurors to put aside their emotions to “effectively evaluate the facts of the case.”

She argued that they were trying to hold the parents accountable for something that had made them victims too.

Antonios, now 23, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. His lawyer, Roberto Torres, said his client is not a monster, even though he was called one during the trial. He said he did something “monstrous.”

Torres said it was easier to single out “a severely mentally disturbed young man who was going through hell” than to blame his parents or the arms industry.

He said Pagourtzis was possessed by a demon and was in the “mother of all psychotic hurricanes” at the time of the shooting, so he “didn't stand a chance.”

“Let’s blame the sick person,” Torres said.

The final witness in the case on Thursday was the psychiatrist who questioned the confessed shooter. He told jurors that it became apparent during questioning that he was suffering from a psychotic illness.

PREVIOUS STORY: Psychiatrist paints disturbing picture of Santa Fe HS suspect's mental state

Dimitrios was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, Tourette syndrome, social anxiety disorder, psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, probable transvestite disorder and anorexia, which was in remission.

Other witnesses who testified during the trial include Pagourtzis' father and his younger sister.

His father, Antonios, said he had no knowledge of his son's mental health problems, which lawyers argued were evident in poor grades, antisocial behavior and an obsession with weapons.

READ MORE: Sister of suspected Santa Fe High School shooter testifies about her upbringing as parents' lawyers present case

Antonios denied any responsibility for the shooting but said he wished he could have prevented what happened. He acknowledged that his son destroyed several lives on May 18, 2018.

When asked if he believed his son should be held accountable for his actions, he said he would leave that to a judge, but that he had destroyed his own life.

Pagourtzis' younger sister, Vasiliki Gerbsoti, now 20 years old, testified that neither of her parents abused her. She said that she and her brother had a normal upbringing.

She said she had not noticed any changes in Pagourtzis' behavior or personality before the shooting.

Because this is a civil case, the jury's decision does not have to be unanimous. Only 10 of the 12 jurors have to agree with the decision.

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