Colin Gray, father of accused Georgia school shooter, found guilty of murder

The father of a teenager accused of killing four people at a Georgia high school in 2024 was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday. It’s a landmark victory for prosecutors in their first-in-the-nation effort to bring murder charges against the parent of an alleged school shooter.

Colin Gray, 55, faces a maximum of 180 years in prison after a Barrow County jury found him guilty of 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The jury deliberated for less than a day following an emotional two-week trial.

Gray took the stand Friday, testifying through tears that he gave his son Colt Gray a rifle as a Christmas gift in 2023, and he saw no warning signs it could be used in a mass shooting.

Prosecutors argued that Gray should be held responsible for failing to secure the weapon and ignoring clear red flags of his son’s deteriorating mental health.

Colt Gray faces four counts of felony murder and other charges. He is awaiting trial.

The elder Gray was taken into custody and charged 36 hours after his then-14-year-old son was accused of opening fire with an AR-style rifle at the Winder, Georgia, high school, killing two teachers and two students and injuring nine.

The swift arrest occurred five months after a mother and father in Michigan became the first parents of a school shooter sentenced for involuntary manslaughter. Officials have also since levied felony charges against the father of a school shooter in Wisconsin and a Texas mother accused of buying ammunition for her 13-year-old son.

Gray and his wife, Marcee Gray, struggled with drug addiction and were inattentive to their son’s struggles as Colt Gray allegedly talked of a fascination with school shootings and wanting to hurt himself and others, The Washington Post previously reported.