The father of Georgia school shooter Colt Gray sobbed and rocked back and forth during his first appearance in Barrow County Superior Court Friday.
Colin Gray's hearing came just after his 14-year-old son Colt learned he would not face the death penalty as a minor for killing four people Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, near Atlanta.
The teenager appeared in person in shackles, dressed in a green T-shirt and gray sweatpants. He kept his head bowed, his hair covering his face, and spoke only quietly to Judge Currie Mingledorff, responding “Yes, sir” when asked to confirm his name.
Meanwhile, his father, Colin Gray, 54, wept as he appeared in the same courtroom shortly after his son, charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child cruelty.
Colin Gray shuffled in. He was wearing a prison-issued striped shirt and tracksuit and was handcuffed like his son. He said his name in a croaking voice, confirming his age and that he could read and write.
Georgia school shooter Colt Gray appeared in court for the first time Friday
Colin Gray, 54, appeared in the same courtroom shortly after his son and was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child cruelty
He told the court that he had completed his education up to an 11th grade GED and nodded to the proceedings as they took place.
The distraught father became agitated after Judge Mingledorff told him the maximum sentence he could receive and is expected to appear in court on December 4.
The victims' family members stared at him throughout the hearing as he kept his head bowed and avoided eye contact with anyone but the judge.
Dozens of emotional family members filled the courtroom for both Grays' first appearance, with some visibly crying before the hearing even began. Some wore sunglasses to obscure their faces and were assisted in the courtroom by detectives.
Family members of the father and son did not appear to support them in the courtroom.
Judge Mingledorff told the elder Gray he could face up to 30 years in prison for each murder charge and 10 years in prison for each count of involuntary manslaughter and child cruelty – a maximum total of 180 years.
Gray was arrested Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, just minutes after authorities said he opened fire on students and teachers, killing four people. Colt reportedly told police, “I did it,” as he read his Miranda rights
His father, 54-year-old Colin Gray, is accused of buying his 14-year-old son Colt the AR-15 rifle the boy used and was arrested Thursday on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children
Colt Gray's lawyer did not ask for bail for the teenager.
The teenager looked down at his feet as he entered the courtroom and stared directly at the judge as he spoke during the brief eight-minute hearing.
Judge Mingledorff brought Gray back to correct his statement, telling him, “I wanted to make it clear to you that the sentence does not include the death penalty. It includes life without the possibility of parole or with the possibility of parole.”
A 2005 Supreme Court decision bans the execution of criminals who were under 18 at the time of committing their crimes.
The teen's father was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting, including charges of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder, according to Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“His allegations are directly related to his son’s actions and possession of a weapon,” Hosey said.
According to authorities, Colin Gray told police this week that he bought the gun used in the murders as a Christmas present for his son last December.
Marcee, 43, has a criminal record in four Georgia counties that includes drug use, domestic violence and property damage, as well as civil fraud charges
Colt Gray was arrested Wednesday, just minutes after authorities said he opened fire on students and teachers, killing four people. Colt reportedly told police, “I did it,” as he read his Miranda rights.
Public records show Gray's mother, Marcee Gray, has a criminal record dating back to 2007 and served time in prison as recently as last April. She was forbidden from contacting Father Colin without a third party.
Marcee, 43, has a criminal record in four Georgia counties that includes drug use, domestic violence and property damage, as well as civil fraud charges.
The family home was searched Wednesday afternoon, with FBI investigators seizing firearms and evidence.
Neighbors saw Colin return to the family home on Wednesday evening. However, it is unclear whether he turned himself in to authorities.
A neighbor told DailyMail.com that they were “terrified” by the new charges, adding that the family had “kept to themselves” and had not integrated into the community in their two years on the property.
The teenager denied threatening a school shooting when authorities questioned him last year about a threatening social media post, according to a sheriff's office report obtained Thursday.
Conflicting evidence about the post's origins meant investigators were unable to arrest anyone, the report said. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the May 2023 report and found nothing that would have warranted charges at that time.
Teacher Richard Aspinwall was named as one of the four shooting victims. Christina Irimie was also identified as a victim
Mason Schermerhorn, 14, an autistic student at Apalachee High School, was the first victim to be identified. 14-year-old Christian Angulo also died in the senseless shooting
The teen was interviewed after the sheriff received a tip from the FBI that Gray, then 13, “may have threatened to attack a middle school tomorrow.” According to the sheriff's office incident report, the threat was made on Discord, a social media platform popular among video gamers.
The FBI tip pointed to a Discord account linked to an email address linked to Colt Gray, the report said. But the boy said, according to the investigator's report, “He would never say something like that, even in jest.”
In the transcript of the interview, the teenager is quoted as saying, “I promise I would never say anything where…”, with the rest of this denial listed as unintelligible.
The investigator wrote that no arrests were made due to “inconsistent information” on the Discord account, which included profile information in Russian and a digital evidence trail that indicated it had been accessed in various cities in Georgia as well as Buffalo, New York had been carried out.
Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said she reviewed the May 2023 report and found nothing that would have warranted charges at that time.
“We haven’t dropped the ball on this one at all,” Mangum said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We did everything we could do with what we had at the time.”
The Discord account's username was written in Russian, and in the translation of the letters was the name Lanza, which referred to Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, officials said.
Gray denied being the originator of the threats and told police he closed his Discord after it was repeatedly hacked. He expressed concern that someone might make such allegations against him.
“He knows the importance of weapons and what they can do and how to use and not use them,” said the father, Colin Gray, according to a transcript obtained from the sheriff's office.
Sheriff's investigators closed the case after they were unable to prove that Gray was connected to the Discord account and saw no reason to seek the necessary court order to confiscate the family's weapons, according to police reports that show the Sheriff's Office released on Thursday.
The boy was reportedly obsessed with other notorious school shooters such as Parkland, Florida murderer Nikolas Cruz.