Mother who lost son in Santa Fe shooting calls trial's delay again 'inhumane'
SANTA FE, Texas - The trial for the admitted Santa Fe High School shooter was postponed again on Tuesday. It’s been nearly three years since the gunman shot 23 people, killing 10 of them.
A judge has signed off on state doctors' orders to keep the 20-year-old suspect in a mental hospital for up to another year.
Featured
Admitted Santa Fe HS shooter still not competent to stand trial nearly 3 years later
It will be at least another year before the assault and murder trial of the admitted Santa Fe High School shooter.
Het has been under a court-ordered mental evaluation at North Texas State Hospital in Vernon, Texas since December of 2019.
On Tuesday, the victims' families woke up to a text from Galveston County prosecutors informing them the admitted school shooter was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial again.
"The victims or the families that lost somebody, this storm was a major trigger for them. Anxiety just leads to anxiety. And then a couple of days later, we just get electricity back and we get this news. It’s like a one-two punch," said Scot Rice.
MORE SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING COVERAGE
Rice's wife, Flo, was a substitute teacher who was shot during the 2018 massacre and survived.
"You give up hope that something's going to come of this and you’re just like in a revolving door of time," Rice said.
Pagourtzis' attorney, Nick Poehl said his client's treatments have likely been delayed because of COVID-19.
"Not all of their resources were online yet because of COVID. There are some things that could have been done that were curtailed this past year because of that. And for no other reason, that’s affected every patient there, not just him," said Poehl.
Poehl declined to give other details about his client's condition or progress, due to privacy laws.
SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS
Rosie Stone has spent the last three years wondering how exactly her son, Chris Stone, died. Chris was one of the 10 people killed.
But with an open investigation, prosecutors won’t tell her any information that could jeopardize the case.
"We’re going on three years now. When is enough is enough? It’s inhumane what is happening right now," Stone said.
TIMELINE: What happened that horrific day
Stone said the wait has been agonizing and with those details kept hidden, she’s not sure when she’ll ever find closure.
"It just takes me back to May 18th of waiting 10 hours. And everybody telling me there was no deceased. Now I just wait years. Every day that passes is just years. And every year for the last three years is just one heartbreak after another. It’s not right. This is not a way for a parent to live," Stone said.
FOR THE LATEST NEWS UPDATES, DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 NEWS APP
"There were failures in our school district. There were failures in our safety and security. There were failures with his parents. There were failures with our killer. There’s levels to this and I mean nobody, nobody is being held accountable," Stone continued.