HOUSTON – The defense attorney representing the charged Santa Fe high school gunman said state doctors notified him his client remains incompetent to stand trial.
The criminal case against Dimitrios Pagourtzis remains in limbo 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 during the May 18, 2018 mass shooting.
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“We have been informed by the North Texas State Hospital that Dimitrios Pagourtzis remains incompetent to stand trial, and that they are recommending he be re-committed for up to 12 more months. The Court will sign orders to that effect soon,” wrote defense attorney Nick Poehl. “As the years have gone by with similar report after similar report, it now appears clear that Mr. Pagourtzis, despite the best efforts of his treating physicians, cannot be restored to competency in any near-term timeframe, and that other avenues will have to be looked at for resolution of this incredibly difficult case. Our prayers remain with everyone affected by this tragedy.”
Pagourtzis was first declared incompetent to stand trial in 2019.
Until his competency is restored, the criminal case cannot move forward. Pagourtzis was also charged in federal court over the mass shooting and that case, too, remains stalled.
After being declared incompetent, Pagourtzis was to North Texas State Hospital’s Vernon campus for treatment.
Pagourtzis has now been at the hospital for 2,234 days, which is well beyond the average 158 days doctors in the North Texas system took to restore patients’ competency during 2025.
Records from the State Health and Human Services Commission show Pagourtzis is one 11 patients who has been at the facility for five years or longer.
HHSC reports the average daily cost to treat a patient at NTSH was $949 in 2025.
Since being declared incompetent, doctors at the state hospital report annual to the court as to whether competency has been restored or if further treatment is needed.
The deadline for deciding whether Pagourtzis needs to be recommitted comes at the end of January.
Several family members of those killed and wounded in the attack met with newly appointed Galveston County District Attorney Kenneth Cusick on Tuesday morning. After the meeting, family members said Cusick told them he was still learning about the case.
In a statement to 2 Investigates, Cusick wrote he was planning to visit NTSH to familiarize himself with efforts to restore Pagourtzis’ competency.
However, after learning of Poehl’s statement regarding the hospital’s assessment, some family members said they were unhappy Cusick didn’t share that information during their meeting.
“We met today with Mr. Cusick to discuss the case. We were specifically told before the meeting there was no update or new information. Now we find out he knew prior to our meeting the hospital was recommending the shooter be recommitted and did not tell us. I am very disappointed in his actions and feel he has mislead us,” wrote Flo Rice, a substitute teacher was shot in both legs during the mass shooting.
John Barnes is a retired Houston police officer and Santa Fe ISD police officer. He was the first to confront the gunman but was hit with a blast from a shotgun that shredded an artery his arm. Barnes nearly bled to death.
He said he told Cusick he would like to see another competency hearing for Pagourtzis.
“I’ll put my vote and support behind whoever will give us a competency trial. If there are several people willing to do that, I’ll have to evaluate that then,” Barnes wrote in a statement.
Rosie Stone, the mother of Chris Stone who was killed trying to protect classmates from gunfire, said she remains skeptical the case will make it to trial.
“The justice system is just not on our side, it’s never going to be on the side of the victim and I now realize that,” said Stone. “Going on eight years, I grieve my son every day, not one day goes by, and I shouldn’t have to live like this.”
After learning of Poehl’s statement, Cusick’s Office sent a second statement to 2 Investigates.
“The District Attorney’s Office does not agree that the defendant cannot be restored to competency. The District Attorney’s Office will pursue all legal means available for the defendant to be found competent and brought to justice. This is why the District Attorney, himself, is travelling to the hospital to meet with the doctors — not only for the competency decision immediately before the court, but also to prepare fully for all possible legal action in the future," the statement reads.
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.”