WINDER, Ga. — A jury in Georgia has found Colin Gray guilty of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges connected to his teenage son’s deadly attack at Apalachee High School.
The verdict came Tuesday following the September 2024 massacre in Winder, located northeast of Atlanta, where Gray’s son allegedly fatally shot two students and two teachers. Gray represents part of a growing trend of parents facing criminal charges when their children carry out mass shootings.
Gray displayed minimal reaction while hearing the guilty verdict and remained stoic as each jury member confirmed their decision. Court officers placed him in handcuffs at the defense table where he spoke briefly with his attorney. His sentencing will occur at a future court date.
The jury determined Gray was responsible for second-degree murder in the deaths of two 14-year-old victims, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Under Georgia statutes, this charge applies when someone causes a child’s death through cruelty to children. He was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of educators Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
The attack also left one additional teacher and eight students with injuries. Gray received guilty verdicts on multiple charges of reckless conduct and cruelty to children.
According to prosecutors, Gray provided his son Colt with firearm access and ammunition “after receiving sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger the bodily safety of another.”
Colt Gray, age 14 during the shooting incident, faces indictment on 55 total charges including murder. He has entered a not guilty plea, with his judge scheduling a status conference for mid-March.
Law enforcement officials determined that Colt Gray meticulously organized the September 4, 2024 attack at the school serving 1,900 students.
According to investigators, he transported a semiautomatic assault-style weapon to school in his backpack, with the barrel protruding and concealed with poster board. After departing his second-period class, he exited a restroom armed with the weapon and opened fire in both a classroom and school corridors, investigators reported.
Prosecutors revealed that Colin Gray had presented the firearm to his son as a Christmas present months before the shooting and continued allowing access to the weapon and ammunition despite recognizing his son’s declining mental state.
The prosecution also disclosed that Colin Gray was aware of his son’s fascination with mass school shooters, including maintaining a bedroom shrine dedicated to Nikolas Cruz, who perpetrated the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School attack in Parkland, Florida.
