Father of accused Apalachee High School shooter takes stand in his personal protection trial

The father of the accused Apalachee High School shooter, Colt Gray, has taken the stand in the latest case of parents being put on trial after their children are accused of killing classmates.

Shortly after presenting their case Friday morning, defense lawyers called Colin Gray to testify. Prosecutors believe Colin Gray should be held accountable for giving his son a gun – the weapon used in the mass shooting – for Christmas despite alleged threats and warning signs that the then-14-year-old was mentally unstable.

Colin Gray faces 55 counts, including murder in the deaths of four people and 25 counts of aggravated assault. He’s accused of carefully planning the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at his High School that left two teachers and two students dead and several others wounded at the school in Winder, northeast of Atlanta.

The father faces 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Killed in the shooting were teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Another teacher and eight other students were wounded.

Colin Gray wrote step-by-step plans for the assault in a notebook, including diagrams and potential body counts, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent testified at a hearing the month after the shooting.

With a semiautomatic, assault-style rifle in his book bag, the barrel sticking out and wrapped in poster board, he boarded the school bus, investigators said. He left his second-period class and emerged from a bathroom with the gun and then shot people in a classroom and hallways, investigators said.

The trial of Colin Gray, now ending its second week, has included testimony from the boy’s mother, Marcee Gray, who testified that she urged her husband to lock up the guns so that Colt could not access them. The parents were separated for much of the time leading up to the shooting, and Marcee Gray was not charged with any crimes.

This is one of several cases around the nation where prosecutors are trying to hold parents responsible after their children are accused in fatal shootings.

Source: independent.co.uk