Attorney says parents of ex-student accused in Texas school shooting bear responsibility for attack

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — The parents of a former Texas high school student accused of killing 10 people during a 2018 shooting on his campus bear responsibility for what happened because they failed to help their son amid a mental health crisis or to limit his access to the family’s guns, an attorney representing victims' families told jurors on Wednesday.

“This shooting was premeditated, it was predictable and it was preventable,” attorney Clint McGuire said during opening statements in the civil trial of a lawsuit seeking to hold Dimitrios Pagourtzis and his parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, financially liable for the shooting at Santa Fe High School in May 2018.

Lori Laird, an attorney for Pagourtzis’ parents, told jurors the couple is heartbroken by the shooting but their son’s mental illness is ultimately to blame for what happened.

“If there had been signs and symptoms, I guarantee you this mom … she would have immediately done something about that,” Laird said.

The lawsuit was filed by family members of seven of those killed and four of the 13 people wounded in the attack.

Pagourtzis was charged with capital murder for the shooting. He was a 17-year-old student when authorities said he killed eight students and two teachers at the school, located about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Houston.

The criminal case against the now-23-year-old remains on hold after he was declared incompetent to stand trial. He has been held at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon since December 2019.

McGuire told jurors that Antonios Pagourtzis and Kosmetatos knew their son was suffering from depression, started getting bad grades and isolating himself, began taking weapons from their gun cabinet and safe, started making disturbing posts on Facebook and began ordering online ammunition and other items such as a knife with a Nazi symbol and a T-shirt that said, “Born To Kill.”

“In spite of the fact he was trying to give them signs, if they did not know he was depressed as they’re claiming, it’s because they failed in their job as parents,” said McGuire, who is representing the families of five students who were killed and two others who were injured. Kosmetatos, who sat at the defense table with her husband, cried as McGuire spoke to jurors.

Laird told jurors Kosmetatos and her husband were good parents who worked hard and tried to do the best for their children. She said Pagourtzis was a typical teenager who was unmotivated and didn’t want to do his schoolwork, but she insisted there were no red flag warnings, such as disciplinary or drug problems. She also said that his parents didn't know any of their weapons were missing or that he had hidden his online purchases of ammunition and other weapons.

“What needs to be clear to everyone is Dimitrios was suffering in silence. No one saw this,” Laird said.

Laird suggested that some of the blame also belongs with Lucky Gunner, a Tennessee-based online retailer that sold Dimitrios Pagourtzis more than 100 rounds of ammunition without verifying he was old enough to buy it. She also blamed the school for not alerting Pagourtzis' parents of online searches he had made on a campus computer related to school shootings, suicide and weapons.

Lucky Gunner was a defendant in the lawsuit until last year, when it reached a settlement with the families.

Roberto Torres, who is representing Dimitrios Pagourtzis in the lawsuit, told jurors that while his client did plan the shooting, he was never in control of his actions because of his severe mental illness.

The families are pursuing at least $1 million in damages, but the jury could award a higher amount.

After the trial ended for the day, family members of those killed and wounded in the shooting said the lawsuit wasn’t about money but about people being held accountable for actions that enabled the shooting.

Rosie Yanas-Stone, whose 17-year-old son Christopher Stone was killed, said she was upset by what she heard as excuses from Dimitrios Pagourtzis' parents.

“I’m sick and tired every time a school shooting happens, it’s always ‘thoughts and prayers’ and that don’t work no more,” Yanas-Stone said. “As long as we got people like these parents and everybody else saying, ‘Not my fault, not my fault.’ So whose fault is it?”

The trial could last up to three weeks.

Similar lawsuits have been filed following other mass shootings.

In 2022, a jury awarded over $200 million to the mother of one of four people killed in a shooting at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee. The lawsuit had been filed against the shooter and his father, who was accused of returning a rifle to his son before the shooting despite the son’s mental health issues.

In April, Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison by a Michigan judge after becoming the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting.

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Galveston County Court No. 3 Judge Jack Ewing speaks with attorneys Lori Laird, left, and Clint McGuire before a recess in the civil trial against the parents of accused Santa Fe High School shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at the Galveston County Courthouse in Galveston, Texas. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP, Pool)

Attorney Clint McGuire, representing several families of victims of the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting gives his opening statement in the civil trial against Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, parents of accused school shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis, on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Galveston County Court No. 3 Judge Jack Ewing's courtroom at the Galveston County Courthouse in Galveston, Texas. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP, Pool)

Antonios Pagourtzis, left, and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, parents of accused school shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis, await the start of the civil trial against them in Galveston County Court No. 3 Judge Jack Ewing's courtroom at the Galveston County Courthouse in Galveston, Texas on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP, Pool)

Antonios Pagourtzis, left, and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, parents of accused school shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis, await the start of the civil trial against them in Galveston County Court No. 3 Judge Jack Ewing's courtroom at the Galveston County Courthouse in Galveston, Texas on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP, Pool)

FILE - Law enforcement officers respond to Santa Fe High School after an active shooter was reported on campus in Santa Fe, Texas, May 18, 2018. A lawsuit accusing the parents of a former Texas high school student of negligence for not securing weapons he allegedly used in a 2018 shooting at his campus that killed 10 people was set to go before a jury on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Photos of the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting whose families filed a civil lawsuit against Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, parents of Santa Fe High School shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis, are shown during the opening statements of the civil trial in Galveston County Court No. 3 Judge Jack Ewing's courtroom at the Galveston County Courthouse in Galveston, Texas on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP, Pool)

Rose Marie Kosmetatos looks up at a photo of her son, accused Santa Fe High School shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis, as she and her husband, Antonios Pagourtzis, listen to opening statements in the civil trial against them in Galveston County Court No. 3 Judge Jack Ewing's courtroom at the Galveston County Courthouse in Galveston, Texas on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Galveston County Daily News via AP, Pool)

BOSTON (AP) — Ilia Malinin defended his world title with a free skate that earned a standing ovation inside TD Garden on Saturday night, capping a memorable home championships for the Americans, who won three gold medals in the four figure skating events to give them a wave of momentum heading into an Olympic year.

The 20-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, came up short in his try at a record seven quads — Malinin had to settle for a mere six after he popped a planned quad lutz. But it hardly mattered. He finished with a season-best 318.56 points after his free skate, set to “I'm Not a Vampire” by Falling In Reverse, to win his second gold medal by more than 31 points.

Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan jumped over Yuma Kagiyama and into second place with a sublime free skate, finishing with 287.47, while the reigning Olympic silver medalist from Japan wound up third with 278.19 points.

Earlier in the night, Madison Chock and Evan Bates became the first ice dancers to win three consecutive world championships in nearly three decades when their jazzy free skate held off longtime Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

They set the stage for Malinin to join the American gold rush, one night after Alysa Liu's triumph in the women's event.

Malinin, who had about a three-point cushion on Kagiyama after his short program, oozed confidence as he swaggered toward the ice for his warm-up. And when former Olympic ice dancer Ben Agosto announced his name, and a second straight sellout in TD Garden roared, the self-styled “Quad God" suddenly appeared to be downright stoic preparing for his program.

The program itself? The kind of high-flying stuff nobody else can do these days.

Malinin hit his first four quads, including the axel that only he has ever landed in competition, before the only real misstep, when he doubled up the lutz. But he stayed in the moment, finishing the program to a roar of approval from the home fans.

He was already the favorite to win gold at the Milano-Cortina Olympics next year.

Now, the question is whether anybody else can even compete with him?

Chock and Bates finished with 222.06 points in the ice dance competition, while Gilles and Poirier took silver for the second straight year with 216.54. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson landed on the podium in third, earning Britain's first world medal of any color since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean finished their run of four straight ice dance titles in 1984.

Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov were the last to win three in a row, triumphing four straight times for Russia from 1994-97.

“Coming in here, we weren't thinking about a three-peat or any type of title defense. It was a standalone event,” Bates said. “We were prepared as we could possibly be and we skated as well as we could have.”

Now, Chock and Bates are ready to turn their attention to their biggest goal: the Winter Olympics in February.

The longtime partners have been on the stage before, and were part of the U.S. squad that won team gold at the 2022 Games in Beijing — following a protracted investigation into Russian doping. But for all their success, Chock and Bates have never stood on an Olympic podium in ice dance itself, finishing just off it in fourth place three years ago.

“I think the Olympic season certainly carries a different weight than the other three years,” Chock said. “You have this incredible opportunity to reach the entire world, and it makes it really special, because it amplifies our voices on and off the ice.”

The trip to Milan, Italy, is Malinin's primary focus, too. He was left off the team in Beijing despite finishing second at nationals that year, when U.S. Figure Skating opted for a more experienced lineup at the Winter Games.

“My focus on the Olympics will start at the beginning of next season, when the competitions start rolling around,” he said. “That is when I will have to start on strategy, making sure I like how the programs are, and how the jumps are going, and making sure that everything is comfortable before the Olympics.”

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Ilia Malinin, of the United States, performs during the men's free skating program at the figure skating world championships, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ilia Malinin, of the United States, skates during the men's short program at the figure skating world championships, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ilia Malinin, of the United States, reacts af per performing during the men's free skating program at the figure skating world championships, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, of Great Britain, perform during the ice dance free dance program at the figure skating world championships, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, of Canada, perform during the ice dance free dance program at the figure skating world championships, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, of Canada, perform during the ice dance free dance program at the figure skating world championships, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, of the United States, react after performing during the ice dance free dance program at the figure skating world championships, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, of the United States, perform during the ice dance free dance program at the figure skating world championships, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)