Father of accused Georgia school shooter convicted of second-degree murder

By Rich McKay

ATLANTA, March 3 (Reuters) – Colin Gray, the father of a boy charged with killing four people at a high school in Georgia in 2024, was found guilty of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday in a rare U.S. legal case in which a parent was prosecuted following the actions of a child in a mass shooting.

Gray was convicted by a jury on 27 charges after an 11-day trial over the deaths of four students and teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, about an hour’s drive from Atlanta. The judge dismissed two other charges on Monday.

Prosecutors during the trial told jurors that Colin Gray, 55, armed and enabled Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting and faces a separate murder trial, by giving the troubled boy a rifle as a Christmas gift.

Prosecutors said Colt Gray used the weapon to kill four people and wound seven others at the school.  

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before reaching their verdict, convicting Colin Gray on charges including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct stemming from his son’s actions. Two charges of cruelty to children in the second-degree were dismissed before the jury deliberated.

Prosecutors said at trial that the case was about who armed Colt Gray and who enabled him to take the actions that he did. The defense argued that the only one who should be punished was the son.

The trial date has not yet been scheduled for Colt Gray. He faces 55 counts, including four counts of malice murder and four counts of felony murder. Those killed were students Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14, and teachers Cristina Irimie, 53 and Richard Aspinwall, 39.

Colin Gray, who pleaded not guilty, took the stand in his own defense saying that he was trying to be a good father in a broken home. He said he never imagined Colt Gray would carry out the September 2024 attack.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Donna Bryson and Will Dunham)