GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – The gunman charged with murdering eight classmates, and two educators and wounding several others during a mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in May of 2018 remains incompetent to stand trial.
According to Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady, doctors at North Texas State Hospital informed the court Dimitrios Pagourtzis remains incompetent and requested another 12 months for treatment.
The criminal case against Pagourtzis remains at a stand-still. The former Santa Fe high student cannot be brought to trial until his competency is restored.
Pagourtzis is charged with murdering students Chris Stone, Aaron McLeod, Angelique Ramirez, Jared Black, Kimberly Vaughan, Sabika Sheikh, Christian Garcia, Shana Fisher, and educators Cynthia Tisdale and Ann Perkins. He’s also charged with wounding more than a dozen others, including former Santa Fe police officer John Barnes, during his rampage.
Pagourtzis was first declared incompetent in 2019 and sent to North Texas State Hospital’s Vernon campus for treatment. Pagourtzis has now been at the hospital for 1,879 days. This is well beyond the average 175 days it took doctors at the state hospital to restore other patients' competency in 2024.
According to State Health and Human Service Commission data, Pagourtzis is one of 15 patients whose been at North Texas for longer than 5 years. HHS data shows it costs $906 a day to treat patients at North Texas.
While court documents indicate Pagourtizs’s attorneys intend to seek an insanity defense if the case goes to trial, the issue of his competency is a separate matter.
An insanity defense deals with a defendant’s mental state at the time a crime was committed, while competency deals with the defendant’s current mental state. In a criminal setting, a defendant’s competency is determined through the “Dusky Standard.”
According to the US Dept. of Justice, the 1960 US Supreme Court case established, “the court must determine “whether [the defendant] has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding -- and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.”
Pagourtzis’ period of recommitment is for 12 months. At the end of the cycle doctors will submit another report on whether they’ve made progress on restoring his competency.
Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady released this statement:
“Today, pursuant to Texas law, the Court ordered that defendant Dimitrios Pagourtzis be re-committed to the maximum security unit of North Texas State Hospital for restoration of competency to stand trial. The Court’s order was based on Texas statutes and the most recent report from North Texas State Hospital, wherein two physicians found that Pagourtzis had not yet been restored to competency. The physicians requested that Pagourtzis be recommitted to their facility for up to an additional twelve months for treatment.
Pagourtzis remains confined under indictment for capital murder and aggravated assault of a peace officer in connection with the 2018 Santa Fe High School mass shooting. Our Office is committed to seeing Pagourtzis face a jury trial on these charges so that justice can be done.”
Pagourtzis’ attorney, Nicholas Poehl, released this statement:
“We are saddened that after almost 6 years of continuous treatment, our client cannot be restored to competency. We await further news from North Texas State Hospital as to next steps.”
Rosie Stone’s son, Chris, was killed while trying to save his classmates' lives. She sent us this statement:
“I’m not surprised to hear this news, but it’s still as heartbreaking as the first year he got his extension. It’s unbelievable that 6 years, 8 months later we are in the same position with no justice. Things can’t go on like this. We have to change the culture somehow. No parent should live like this. Every year they rip the band-aid off of the progress we make year after year. I will never give up fighting for victims' rights...my son didn’t give up, he gave up his life for his friends, and I will never give up fighting for the rights of parents who WILL walk in my shoes because school shootings will continue to happen.”
A substitute teacher who was critically wounded the day of the shooting, Flo Rice, also released a statement:
“I believe the issue extends beyond the Santa Fe shooter’s incompetence to include concerns about the competency of the physicians treating him at North Texas State Hospital.”
