Colin Gray faces decades in prison after being found guilty of second-degree murder and other charges tied to the 2024 school attack.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A Georgia jury on Tuesday found Colin Gray guilty of second-degree murder and other charges stemming from the 2024 mass shooting at Apalachee High School, concluding that he bore criminal responsibility after providing his teenage son with the firearm used in the attack.
The verdict followed less than two hours of deliberation, according to The Associated Press, which reported that Gray was convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the September 2024 shooting in Winder, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta.
Prosecutors charged Gray in relation to the deaths of four victims. The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in the killings of two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Under Georgia law, second-degree murder involves causing the death of a child through the commission of cruelty to children.
Gray was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. In addition to those convictions, jurors found him guilty on multiple counts of reckless conduct and cruelty to children. Another teacher and eight students were wounded during the shooting.
Second-degree murder in Georgia carries a prison sentence of no less than 10 years and no more than 30 years. Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by one to 10 years in prison.
“We talk a lot about rights in our country,” Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said following the verdict. “But God gave us a duty to protect our children, and I hope that we remember that, as parents, as community members, to protect our children because that is our God-given duty.”
At trial, prosecutors argued that Gray gave the firearm to his son, Colt Gray, as a Christmas present and allowed him access to both the weapon and ammunition despite warning signs related to the boy’s mental health. They told jurors that Gray had “sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger” others.
Marcee Gray, the suspect’s mother, was not charged. She testified that she had urged her estranged husband to secure firearms in his truck so their son could not reach them. The couple had separated in the months preceding the shooting, and Colt primarily lived with his father during that period. Marcee Gray declined comment when contacted after the verdict.
Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the attack, has pleaded not guilty to 55 charges, including multiple counts of murder. A status hearing in his case is scheduled for mid-March.
The convictions mark one of the most significant parental accountability rulings in a school shooting case in Georgia, as the state continues to grapple with the legal responsibilities of gun owners when firearms are accessed by minors.
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