First day of Santa Fe High School shooting civil trial begins
SANTA FE, Texas - The long awaited civil lawsuit against the parents of the Santa Fe school shooter began on Monday. This comes six years after the shooter walked on campus killing eight students and two teachers. The first day of the trial included handing out questionnaires to the jurors.
The criminal case against the admitted shooter remains on hold because he is not mentally competent to stand trial. The civil lawsuit was filed by the victims' families against the shooter and his parents.
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"Waiting the six years has been inhumane," said Rosie Yanas Stone, the mother of a 17-year-old who was killed in the shooting.
Six long years after the Santa Fe High School shooting, the civil trial against the parents of the admitted shooter has begun. In 2018, the gunman entered the school killing 10 people and injuring 13 others. Rosie Yanas Stone's son, Christopher, died trying to protect his classmates from the killer.
"All I did was send my son to school, and he went home in a body bag," said Yanas Stone.
Yanas Stone filed the civil lawsuit six days after the shooting. The suit later grew to include the families of seven of the people killed in the shooting and four people who were injured.
"The justice I want, we don’t have in Texas. Here the only thing we can go for is monetary," said Yanas Stone.
The families are suing the shooter’s parents for negligence and allowing their son to have access to their guns.
"What I’d really like to see in the future is for irresponsible gun owners to serve some jail time. Because at the end of the day, those are the people who are partly responsible for all of these massacres that are happening," said Yanas Stone.
The plaintiff's attorney said they are fighting for accountability.
"We filed a case against Dimitrios himself of intentionally causing these acts, and we filed a claim against his parents for failing to get him the mental help that he needed, and failing to safely store their guns," said Clint McGuire, the plantiff's attorney.
"The actor in this case, who was 17, almost 18 at the time this occurred, to show that the parents really have any kind of legal duty to keep these items locked up," said Lori Laird, the defense attorney.
Yanas Stone said it’s been a long emotional six years for her with frustrations that the suspect may never go to trial.
"Waiting six years, that’s unethical. That’s not something that should be a norm. We need a speedy, rapid judgment on these school shooters," said Yanas Stone.
The jury is expected to be selected on Tuesday and opening arguments are scheduled to begin on Wednesday.