SANTA FE — Kyle McLeod’s body was so badly damaged by gunfire that authorities had to ask his mother several times what he was wearing to identify him, Gail McLeod testified Thursday. McLeod’s testimony came during day seven of the civil trial against school shooter Dimitrios Pagourtzis and his parents Antonios Pagourtzis and Rose Marie Kosmetatos, who are accused of failing to safely secure weapons their son used in the shooting. McLeod was the latest mother to testify about how the shooting, which killed 10 and wounded 13, has upended the lives of many.
The trial, which is expected to last at least another week, has revealed brutal details largely kept from the public by Pagourtzis’ stalled criminal case, which is held up because he has been repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial. Because it was close to the last day of school, Kyle McLeod, 15, like many students that day, considered skipping school but “decided to do the right thing” and go, his mother said. By 7:30 a.
m., he had texted his older sister, a junior at the school, that there was a shooting in his classroom and he had been shot in the arm, McLeod said. “She kept on saying, ‘Lay down, pretend like you’re dead,’” McLeod said, crying.
“And then the texts stopped.” The siblings, who had a close bond, were able to tell each other “I love you” one last time, McLeod said. McLeod’s daughter immediately called her after texting with Kyle McLeod and hearing gunshots in the school, she.
