Murder trial begins for Colin Gray, father of Georgia high school mass shooting suspect
The father accused of giving his son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas present that prosecutors say the teenager used in a 2024 mass shooting at a Georgia high school went on trial on Monday, facing murder and manslaughter charges stemming from the shooting.
The 55-year-old father, Colin Gray, is the latest parent that prosecutors in various U.S. states have attempted to hold criminally liable stemming from their children's deadly actions.
Gray's son, Colt Gray, was 14 years old at the time he was accused of opening fire on Sept. 4, 2024, at Apalachee High School, killing two students and two teachers and injuring eight other victims.
Colin Gray was subsequently charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In his opening statement on Monday, Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith told jurors this case is about Colin Gray's "actions and the horrific consequences of them."
"Before we start, one thing needs to be abundantly clear: This is not a case about holding parents accountable for what their children do. That's not what this case is about," Smith said. "This case is about this defendant and his actions -- his actions in allowing a child that he has custody over access to a firearm and ammunition after being warned that child was going to harm others."
At a news conference shortly after the shooting, Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said the father was arrested for "knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon."
Colt Gray, now 16, has been charged as an adult and is awaiting a separate trial on multiple counts of felony murder and aggravated assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said Colin Gray had been warned that his son had an affinity for mass shooters and was aware that Colt kept a shrine in his bedroom dedicated to the shooter in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Instead of getting his son psychological help, Colin Gray allegedly gave the boy an AR-15-style weapon as a Christmas present that he ultimately used to carry out the mass shooting at Apalachee High School, Smith said.
Smith said evidence will show that Colin Gray was told by school administrators, counselors and law enforcement that his son needed mental health intervention after years of making threats to shoot up a school, even researching "how to kill your dad" at the age of 11.
But each time he was confronted about his son's behavior, Colin Gray would allegedly respond, "'Colt's doing well in school, he doesn’t need any counseling.' But that’s not really true," Smith said. "Colt is full of intense anger and he’s having a hard time dealing with it."
Smith said a week before the shooting, Colt texted his father that he was "hearing voices."
Reading the text message in court, Smith said Colt wrote, "I have to kind of dance around the inconvenient truth at times, I have no control over what these things say and tell me to do."
Despite getting the text and other warnings, Smith said Colin Gray continued to allow his son to keep his rifle propped against a wall in his bedroom.
The prosecutor said moments after hearing of the shooting, Colin Gray frantically called his daughter to ask if she had seen her brother. He then rushed to Colt's bedroom to look for the gun, which was no longer there, Smith said.
Smith told the jury they will hear evidence that Colin Gray allegedly told sheriff's deputies who arrived at his home after the shooting, "I knew it" allegedly in reference to his son being a suspect in the rampage.
But Colin Gray's attorney, Brian Hobbs, told the jurors that this case isn't as simple as the prosecution makes it out to be, by alleging the defendant ignored his son's mental health decline and knew beforehand that he was going to commit a mass shooting.
"What happened at Apalachee High School was tragic, it was horrific, it was terrifying and it was heartbreaking. Nothing said in this courtroom can change that. Nothing that I’m going to say is meant to diminish that," Hobbs said.
"But your job is not to decide whether or not that was tragic. We all know that it was," Hobbs said. "Your job is to decide something much more specific. Your job is to decide whether or not Colin Gray knew what Colt was going to do because the state is not just prosecuting the shooter in this case, they’re prosecuting the father as well."
Hobbs said the evidence will show a teenager who was struggling mentally and "hid his true intentions from everyone," including his father.
"The evidence will show a father who did not ignore his child, he did not abandon his child, he did not turn his back on his child," Hobbs said.
Hobbs added, "The evidence will show that the most important facts, the planning of this shooting, the concealment of this shooting and the timeline of this shooting were hidden by Colt Gray from his father. That’s the difference between tragedy and criminal liability."
Killed in the shooting were math teacher and football coach Richard Aspinwall, 39; math teacher Cristina Irimie, 53; and students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14, officials said
The trial comes after several parents across the country have been charged in connection with mass shootings carried out by their children.
In December 2023, Robert Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty to seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct – one count for each person killed by his son, Robert Crimo III – during a mass shooting at a Fourth of July Parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. As part of a plea deal, Crimo Jr. was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation.
Crimo's son, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in April 2025 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2021, Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents convicted in the United States of charges stemming from a mass school shooting committed by their child at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan. The couple was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at their home and their indifference toward their son's mental health. They were each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
The couple's son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time he killed four classmates, pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
