A Barrow County jury has found a Georgia father guilty after prosecutors said he failed to secure the rifle his son allegedly used in a deadly school shooting that shook the state.
Colin Gray, 55, was convicted Tuesday on 27 charges, including second-degree murder and cruelty to children, tied to the September 4, 2024, massacre at Apalachee High School in Winder, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. Jurors deliberated for less than two hours before returning guilty verdicts on every count.
Gray showed little visible emotion as the decision was read in court. After jurors confirmed their votes, he was handcuffed and escorted out by deputies. Judge Nicholas Primm did not set a sentencing date, saying “there are a lot of people that need to be notified and have a right to appear.” Gray now faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Prosecutors argued that Gray ignored warning signs and allowed his teenage son access to an AR-15-style rifle kept inside their home. The couple’s son, Colt Gray, was 14 at the time of the shooting and is accused of killing four people inside the school. He remains in custody, and a trial date has not yet been announced. Those killed were Mason Schermerhorn, 14; Christian Angulo, 14; Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Cristina Irimie, 53.
During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Patricia Brooks told jurors, “Christian acted and became a hero. He attempted to push the shooter out of his classroom, and when he was shot, Christian’s last act on this earth was to shut the door to his classroom to protect his friends.”
Testifying in his own defense, Colin Gray said he never believed his son would hurt anyone.
“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,” he said.
The case follows other recent prosecutions of parents linked to school shootings, signaling a growing legal focus on accountability beyond the alleged shooter.
