SANTA FE, Texas — Families of victims and survivors of the Santa Fe High School mass shooting of 2018 are waiting to hear when their next day in court will be. They're still waiting for the accused shooter to stand trial five years after the tragedy.
Several of them said they were disappointed to hear the judge in the accused shooter's case was removed.
They said they found out Judge Jeth Jones was removed through a text message. He was "disqualified" because his former law partner briefly worked on the accused shooter's case. The case is now moving to Judge Lonnie Cox's courtroom.
The group of victims and families of victims are upset at yet another delay in the process. They said the case has dragged on and getting a new judge, in their eyes, is another delay.
The group represents some of the people who were injured or lost loved ones in the shooting.
"Every time we go to court, it's just like another blow. The defense always wins their arguments and we always feel like we are chasing our tail -- we are never going anywhere in this case," Scot Rice, whose wife Flo was injured in the shooting, said.
No new court date has been set and the accused gunman remains in a North Texas hospital after being declared incompetent to stand trial.
The fifth anniversary of the shooting is next week and KHOU 11 will have more stories on the changes they're continuing to fight for (including several bills this Legislative session) as well as the winding legal path that has got them to this point.