Texas Jury Finds Santa Fe High School Shooter's Parents Not Liable, Awards $300 Million in Damages
*By Running News Today*
In a pivotal civil trial stemming from the devastating 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, a Texas jury found that the parents of the accused shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, were not liable for negligence. However, the jury held Pagourtzis responsible for the deadly attack that claimed the lives of eight students and two teachers and left over a dozen others wounded. As a result, more than $300 million in damages was awarded to the plaintiffs.
The trial revolved around whether Pagourtzis’ parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, could be held responsible for failing to secure their firearms and neglecting to address their son's mental health issues. Survivors and families of the victims argued that the parents’ actions, or lack thereof, contributed to the tragedy. The plaintiffs asserted that Dimitrios Pagourtzis’ declining mental state should have prompted the parents to take preventive measures, including securing their weapons more effectively.
Clint McGuire, attorney for the plaintiffs, emphasized the responsibility of parents in preventing school shootings. “Parents of a depressed child should safely store their guns,” McGuire said during opening statements. “If they don’t, and their child commits a school shooting with them, the parents share in the responsibility for those harms and losses.”
Throughout the trial, Antonios Pagourtzis testified that he had not recognized the severity of his son’s depression. He admitted that while he owned more than a dozen firearms, including the shotgun and handgun used in the shooting, he believed storing them in a locked display cabinet and gun safe was adequate.
The jury ultimately ruled in favour of the parents, finding they were not liable for their son's actions. Lori Laird, the attorney representing the parents, expressed relief after the verdict. “I think the parents needed to be vindicated, and this needed to happen publicly,” Laird said. Despite the decision, McGuire voiced his disappointment, noting that parents should play a critical role in preventing school shootings. “We would have liked to have had the parents share in their responsibility for this,” he remarked. “Parents should know their kids better than anyone else, and they should be all of our first lines of defence.”
While the jury cleared the parents, it did place 20% of the blame on Lucky Gunner. This online ammunition retailer sold over 100 rounds of ammunition to Dimitrios Pagourtzis without verifying his age. Although Lucky Gunner had previously settled with the plaintiffs, the jury’s ruling underscored the company's negligence in failing to implement proper age checks for ammunition sales. McGuire highlighted this as a significant aspect of the verdict. “The jury found that Lucky Gunner failed to use reasonable care by having no age verification for selling deadly ammunition to kids,” he said, adding that it provided some closure for the affected families.
In response to the ruling, Lucky Gunner’s CEO, Jake Felde, defended the company’s position, noting that it had been dismissed from the lawsuit over two years ago and was not responsible for any monetary damages from the verdict. “It was easy for the jury to place some of the blame on us because we weren’t there to defend ourselves,” Felde said in an email to CNN.
The criminal trial of Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been delayed indefinitely after a judge deemed him mentally incompetent to stand trial. Despite the civil trial’s conclusion, the families of the victims continue to seek justice and answers in the wake of the tragedy. As McGuire stated, while financial compensation cannot heal the wounds inflicted, the trial has helped to shed light on the events leading up to the shooting and the responsibilities of those involved.
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