Santa Fe HS shooting civil trial day 5: Survivor, victim's parents recount harrowing experience
GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas - Testimony in the civil trial against the parents of the accused Santa Fe High School shooter continued Tuesday.
On Monday, jurors heard from two survivors, as well as the family of a 17-year-old exchange student who was among the 10 killed in the May 18, 2018, shooting.
The admitted shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial criminally.
The court heard today from Trenton Beazley, a former Santa Fe High School student. He was among the 13 people hurt in the shooting. Rhonda Hart also testified, the mother of 14-year-old, Kimberly Vaughn who was killed, and Shannon Claussen took the stand. Her son, Christian "Riley" Garcia, died protecting others in one of the art room closets.
In court, the two mothers recalled the moment they found out their children were no longer alive.
Hart shared her emotional testimony of that fateful day and how life has been ever since. On the morning of May 18, Hart, a bus driver with the high school, said goodbye to her 14-year-old daughter, Kimberly Vaughn, not knowing it would be for the last time. "I was saying good bye to my students on my bus and she walked outside my bus and I took a breathe and I said ‘Bye kim, love you’. It means I love you in sign language."
Tragedy struck when Vaughn was killed by gunfire that left her with multiple wounds—seven entries and six exits—that proved too severe to allow for organ donation, her mother testified.
Claussen recalls the moments she arrived on campus frantically looking for her son hoping he was one of the survivors, but found out from authorities he had died. "They told me he was deceased and I can tell they were telling everybody and you can just hear the screams room by room in the hallway."
Hart shared her journey of grief, compounded by post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. The physical manifestation of her distress was presented as weeks of chest pain, which she described as feeling "like a brick was sitting on her chest."
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Santa Fe High School parents had to recount a nightmare as they took the stand to testify during the civil trial against the parents of the admitted school shooter. FOX 26's Jonathan Mejia has the emotional testimony from two mothers who lost their children.
Despite her personal health struggles, Hart has been a resilient force in the community. She has pushed for legislative change, playing a pivotal role in the introduction and passage of the "Protect Our Kids Act" in Texas. Hart bravely shared her story in advocating for gun control legislation, with the hope that her efforts and a forthcoming jury decision might prevent future tragedies.
To commemorate her daughter's life and the impact she left, Hart got a tattoo on her arm with a quote from the popular "Harry Potter" series along with a verse from First Corinthians.
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Hart's last morning with Kimberly is etched in her memory, especially their final exchange—a sign language goodbye meaning "I love you"—a poignant reminder of the daughter she continues to fight for.
On Monday, Beasly provided a gripping recount of the events that unfolded in Art Room 2.
The ordinary morning took a horrific turn when students, including Beazley, heard what they initially thought were loud bangs, only to realize they were gunshots. In a quick effort to escape, he found the back patio door locked. As he became aware of the danger, Beasley saw the shooter, identified as Dimitrios, reloading his weapon.
Alongside Hunter Ferry, Beazley barricaded themselves in the kilm room, improvising a kilt to help secure the door. Despite their efforts, the shooter approached, firing shots through the door and injuring Beazley and others taking refuge, including students Sarah Salazar and Kyle McLeod.
In the confines of the room, Beazley was in the company of Salazar, McLeod, Ferry, and fellow students he didn't know personally, including Isabelle and Chris Stone. Stone would later be one of the casualties, with Beazley recollecting the chilling sounds that accompanied his final moments.
As police arrived, a strenuous five minutes after the first shots, 10 students managed to flee from Art Room 1 to the patio. Beazley described the experience as almost an out-of-body sensation while chaos ensued around him.
During the shooter's taunting and the heart-wrenching sound of phones ringing unanswered in the background, Beazley focused on aiding Salazar, who was severely wounded. With quick thinking and under extreme stress, he fashioned a makeshift tourniquet to stem the bleeding from her arm.
Beazley credits the survival of several students to taking charge in those critical moments, advising against standing despite police orders, fearing the presence of a second shooter.
Now suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stress-induced seizures, Beazley points to shooter Dimitrios and his parents as bearing responsibility for the injuries and trauma inflicted.