WINDER — Colin Gray described himself as a dad who wanted to make it work.
His family was in flux, estranged from his wife, Marcee, who had addiction-related issues and moved out in 2022 with their two younger children amid arguments and financial strain. Gray kept custody of his oldest son, Colt, and tried to build something solid between them.
They hit golf balls. Roamed through guitar shops. Bought guns for target shooting and deer hunting. Colt helped him fold laundry and cook meals.
The “bigger piece for me was getting him away from screen time and computers and Xboxes,” Colin Gray testified Friday.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Gray, 55, faces 29 felony counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and cruelty to children after his son Colt Gray allegedly used the AR-15-style rifle Colin gifted him as a Christmas present to carry out the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School that killed two students and two teachers and wounded nine others.
Colin Gray has pleaded not guilty, arguing he was trying to be a good father in a broken home and never imagined his son would carry out the attack.
But those bonding experiences unfolded alongside mounting warning signs.
When Colt was in sixth grade, he used a school computer to search for how to kill his father.
Police later visited the family’s home to question Colt about alleged online messages threatening a school shooting.
At home, arguments sometimes turned physical. Colin testified that one dispute over an incorrect chicken nuggets order ended with Marcee striking their son. In another altercation, Colt hurled a screwdriver at his father.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Colin said frequent school changes left his son struggling academically and socially, and the family was unable to find lasting educational stability.
“Could I have done better? Yes, I could have done more,” Colin said. “I see that now.”
By August 2024, weeks before the shooting, prosecutors say the warning signs had intensified. They presented text messages in which Colt wrote to his father, “Whenever something happens just know the blood is on your hands.”
Digital evidence presented earlier in the case also showed Colin researching mental health treatment options but not following through, while Marcee testified she urged Colin to secure the firearms.
“He’s a good kid,” Colin said as he began to cry on the witness stand. “He wasn’t perfect, nor was I. But how he could do something that heinous, I don’t know if anybody could see that kind of evil. There was a whole other side of Colt that I never knew existed.”
The trial is one of the first cases nationally holding a parent accountable for allegedly enabling a child’s access to a firearm used in a school shooting. In the only other case like it in the U.S. to have proceeded to trial, the parents of a Michigan school shooter were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.
Colt Gray, now 16, has pleaded not guilty to 55 counts in a separate case. His trial date remains unset pending mental evaluations and evidence review.
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