A Barrow County jury has found 55-year-old Colin Gray guilty on 27 counts — including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children — for his role in the 2024 mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. Jurors reached their decision in under two hours following a two-week trial. Two additional charges were dismissed.
The case centers on the Sept. 4, 2024 attack, when Gray’s son, Colt Gray, then 14, allegedly brought an AR-15-style rifle onto campus and opened fire. Investigators say the weapon was concealed in his backpack as he rode the school bus. After leaving class, he reportedly retrieved the rifle from a bathroom and began shooting in classrooms and hallways. Four people were killed: 14-year-old students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, along with teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Another teacher and eight students were injured. Authorities allege the teen carefully planned the assault, leaving behind a notebook outlining preparations and a sketch of his classroom.
Prosecutors argued that Colin Gray ignored mounting warning signs about his son’s worsening mental state and fascination with prior mass shooters. Jurors were shown photos of the teen’s bedroom, including images of Nikolas Cruz, who carried out the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Despite those red flags, prosecutors said, Gray bought his son the rifle as a Christmas gift and provided ammunition.
Assistant District Attorney Patricia Brooks told jurors during closing arguments: “After seeing sign after sign of his son’s deteriorating mental state, his violence, his school shooter obsession, the defendant had sufficient warning that his son was a bomb just waiting to go off. And instead of disarming him, he gave him the detonator.”
Taking the stand in his own defense, Gray acknowledged purchasing the rifle but said he intended to use it for hunting trips and range practice with his son. He testified that the gift came with conditions tied to good behavior and school performance. Fighting back emotion, he said, “I struggle with it every day. I never thought that he would even have a thought process of bringing a gun to school or doing any kind of harm to anybody else. Well, on anybody at school.” Defense attorney Jimmy Barry maintained that responsibility rests solely with the teen. Showing jurors a photograph of Colt Gray, Barry argued, “Everybody wants to see somebody go to jail other than this young man right here,” adding, “This is the person who needs to be punished. He made a conscious decision to do this – a secretive decision.”
Colt Gray, now 16, is being prosecuted as an adult and faces 55 counts, including felony murder and aggravated assault. He has pleaded not guilty. Colt Gary faces up to 30 years in prison on the murder counts and could potentially spend the rest of his life behind bars; a trial date has not yet been set.
Editorial credit: Williams Photography 365 / Shutterstock.com
