Judge finds suspect in Santa Fe shooting incompetent for trial
A state district judge signed an order Friday officially declaring that the young man charged with capital murder in the Santa Fe High School shooting is incompetent to stand trial.
The accused gunman, 19-yearold Dimitrios Pagourtzis, was evaluated independently by three experts, all of whom agreed that he was not fit to stand trial in his current mental state.
Ellisor’s court filing on Friday confirms the experts’ findings. He wrote Pagourtzis “does not have the sufficient present ability to consult with his attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding; or a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.”
Nick Poehl, one of the defense attorneys in the case, announced the experts’ findings Nov. 4 after Judge John Ellisor lifted a gag order. Jack Roady, the Galveston County district attorney and lead prosecutor in the case, stated he does not intend to object.
Pagourtzis is charged with capital murder in the shooting spree that killed 10 and wounded 13 in May 2018. Pagourtzis, a junior at the high school at the time, admitted to being the mass shooter after his arrest, according to court documents. He faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years if convicted.
Pagourtzis will be committed to a state mental health facility for no more than 120 days, Ellisor said. His trial, scheduled to start Feb. 18 in Richmond, will be delayed.
It is not yet clear which facility Pagourtzis will be transferred to. Poehl previously identifed Rusk State Hospital and North Texas State Hospital in Vernon as the two most likely mental health facilities to hold Pagourtzis because both have maximum-security units.