Murder trial begins for Colin Gray, father of Georgia high school mass shooting suspect
Two students and two teachers were killed in the 2024 shooting.
February 16, 2026, 10:03 AM
The father accused of giving his son an AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas present that prosecutors say the teenager used in a 2024 mass shooting at a Georgia high school went on trial on Monday, facing murder and manslaughter charges stemming from the shooting.
The 55-year-old father, Colin Gray, is the latest parent that prosecutors in various U.S. states have attempted to hold accountable for their children's deadly criminal actions.
Gray's son, Colt Gray, was 14 years old at the time he was accused of opening fire on Sept. 4, 2024, at Apalachee High School, killing two students and two teachers and injuring eight other victims.
Colin Gray was subsequently charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder, and eight counts of cruelty to children. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At a news conference shortly after the shooting, Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said that the father was arrested for "knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon."
Father of Georgia shooting suspect charged; gun was Christmas present, sources say
Colt Gray, now 16, has been charged as an adult and is awaiting a separate trial on multiple counts of felony murder and attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said Colin Gray had been warned that his son had an affinity for mass shooters and was aware that Colt kept a shrine in his bedroom dedicated to the shooter in the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Instead of getting his son psychological help, Colin Gray allegedly gave the boy an AR-15-style weapon as a Christmas present that he ultimately used to carry out the mass shooting at Apalachee High School, authorities alleged.
Killed in the shooting were math teacher and football coach Richard Aspinwall, 39; math teacher Cristina Irimie, 53; and students Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14, officials said
The trial comes after several parents across the country have been charged in connection with mass shootings carried out by their children.
In December 2023, Robert Crimo Jr. pleaded guilty to seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct – one count for each person killed by his son, Robert Crimo III – during a mass shooting at a Fourth of July Parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. As part of a plea deal, Crimo Jr. was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation.
14-year-old suspect in Georgia shooting had affinity for mass shooters: Sources
Crimo's son, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in April 2025 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2021, Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents convicted in the United States of charges stemming from a mass school shooting committed by their child at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan. The couple was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at their home and their indifference toward their son's mental health. They were each sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
The couple's son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time he killed four classmates, pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
