7:47 AM on Aug 19, 2024 CDT

GALVESTON, Texas — Jurors in Texas are expected to resume deliberations Monday on whether the parents of a Texas student accused of killing 10 people in a 2018 school shooting near Houston should be held financially liable for damages.

The victims’ lawsuit seeks to hold Dimitrios Pagourtzis and his parents, Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, financially liable for the shooting at Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018. They are pursuing at least $1 million in damages.

Victims’ attorneys say the parents failed to provide necessary support for their son’s mental health and didn’t do enough to prevent him from accessing their guns.

“It was their son, under their roof, with their guns who went and committed this mass shooting,” Clint McGuire, representing some of the victims, told jurors during closing statements in the Galveston courtroom.

Authorities say Pagourtzis fatally shot eight students and two teachers. He was 17 years old at the time.

Pagourtzis, now 23, has been charged with capital murder, but the criminal case has been on hold since November 2019, when he was declared incompetent to stand trial. He is being held at a state mental health facility.

Lori Laird, an attorney for Pagourtzis’ parents, said their son’s mental break wasn’t foreseeable and that he hid his plans for the shooting from them. She also said the parents kept their firearms locked up.

“The parents didn’t pull the trigger, the parents didn’t give him a gun,” Laird said.

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. Pagourtzis’ parents are not accused of any crime.

The lawsuit was filed by relatives of seven of the people killed and four of the 13 who were wounded in the Santa Fe attack. Attorneys representing some of the survivors talked about the trauma they still endure.

Texas A&M quarterback Conner Weigman is a believer. He has faith in his offense to move the football despite being without leading rusher Rueben Owens, who was sidelined for the season in a scrimmage last weekend.

“The coach calls the running back room the stable for a reason,” Weigman said Saturday. “We have a stable of horses that are ready to go, They will put something together and we will be good.”

Weigman will have Amari Daniels, Le’Veon Moss and EJ Smith at his disposal.

Weigman also said his heart goes out to Owens, his teammate and his friend.

“I talked to Rueben. It was heartbreaking to see,” Weigman said, “That’s my guy, on and off the field. I wished him a speedy recovery.”

The quarterback is also itching to play football. He can’t wait for the first snap against the FIghting Irish.

“You could put the ball down in a parking lot and we are ready to play,” Weigman said, “I am 100 percent ready to go.”

Weigman also revisited his injury from last season where he missed most of the season. He said if he has to run, he has no problem with it. He is not afraid of any trouble with his knee.

“It hasn’t been a problem in camp,” Weigman said, “If the coach calls a play for me to run with it, or the pocket breaks down, I am good with it, I have a pretty good grasp of what’s going on,”

Weigman also likes the bond the team has made throughout camp.

“The brotherhood we built is meshing,” Weigman said, “We are bonding more and more every day.”