Georgia Dad Convicted in School Shooting Seeks New Trial

ATLANTA — Colin Gray, the Georgia father sentenced to 15 years in prison after giving his son the rifle used in the deadliest school shooting in state history, has filed a motion seeking a new trial. The filing, submitted Wednesday, argues that the jury’s guilty verdict is not supported by the evidence and is “contrary to law and the principles of justice and equity,” according to AP News.

Gray, 55, was convicted in March on 27 charges, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, and cruelty to children, stemming from the September 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia. The attack killed two students and two teachers and wounded nine others.

The Shooting and Its Aftermath

On September 4, 2024, 14-year-old Colt Gray opened fire at Apalachee High School, located approximately 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. Students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, were killed in the attack, which NBC News described as Georgia’s deadliest school shooting.

Colin Gray had given his son a SIG Sauer M400 semi-automatic rifle as a Christmas gift in December 2023, along with ammunition, a gunsight, and other shooting accessories. Prosecutors argued that Gray ignored repeated warning signs about his son’s declining mental health and growing obsession with school shooters, including a shrine to Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz found in Colt’s bedroom.

A jury deliberated for less than two hours before convicting Colin Gray of second-degree murder in the deaths of the two students and involuntary manslaughter in the killings of the two teachers. The conviction marked the first time in U.S. history that a parent has been found guilty of murder charges in connection with a school mass shooting committed by their child.

A Landmark Legal Case

The case has drawn national attention as part of a broader shift in how the justice system views parental responsibility in school shootings. Colin Gray is the third parent nationwide to be prosecuted in connection with a school shooting committed by their child, following Jennifer and James Crumbley, the Michigan parents convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 Oxford High School shooting that killed four students.

According to USA Today, the conviction was made possible by Georgia’s unusual second-degree murder law, which went into effect in 2014. Under this statute, second-degree murder is defined as causing the death of a child by committing the crime of cruelty to children, allowing prosecutors to link Gray’s alleged negligence directly to the students’ deaths.

“The guilty verdict of Colin Gray, following those of Jennifer and James Crumbley, sends a clear message: gun owners who recklessly arm a child in crisis will be held accountable,” Nick Suplina, senior vice president of law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement. “When three out of four school shooters get their firearms from the home, these tragedies are not just predictable — they are preventable.”

Sentencing and the New Trial Motion

On July 30, Judge Nicholas Primm of Barrow County Superior Court sentenced Colin Gray to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors had sought 80 years, while the defense argued for 10 years. The maximum possible sentence was 243 years.

During sentencing, Judge Primm was blunt in addressing the elder Gray. “It is clear you failed as a parent,” Primm said, according to CBS News Atlanta. “You didn’t get him mental health counseling when it was obvious he needed some. None of those failures helped your case, but those aren’t why you were convicted. You were convicted because the warning lights were flashing brighter and brighter and you didn’t get him help.”

However, Primm also acknowledged the unusual nature of the case, noting that Gray did not intend to harm anyone and was not the person who fired the weapon. “It matters that you didn’t seek to harm anyone,” Primm said. “It matters that you didn’t pull a trigger.”

Less than a week after the sentencing, Gray’s attorneys filed the two-page motion on August 5, arguing that the verdict is “decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence,” “without evidence to support it,” and “contrary to law and the principles of justice and equity.”

Colt Gray’s Guilty Plea and Sentencing

Days before his father’s sentencing, Colt Gray, now 16, pleaded guilty to all 55 charges against him, including murder. On July 28, Judge Primm sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“You do not seem to be tormented by what you did, you seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize,” Primm told the younger Gray, as reported by Al Jazeera. “You aren’t racked with guilt. You’re proud of yourself.”

The judge described the attack as premeditated and deliberate. “Your plan was not hastily hatched,” he said. “It was a slow boil, simmering one in a year’s time. You savored the thought of it. You visualized it, and you fantasized about it.”

Victims’ families delivered emotional statements during the sentencing hearings. “Those decisions were his and his alone,” said Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son Mason was killed. “Mason deserved a future, and we all deserved a future with Mason in it, and Colt took that from Mason and everyone who loved him.”

Shayna Aspinwall, wife of victim Richard Aspinwall, told the court that the loss has been devastating. “It is a life sentence of grief and trauma for those left behind,” she said.

Warning Signs and Missed Opportunities

The case has also highlighted a series of missed opportunities to intervene before the shooting. In May 2023, the FBI investigated an online threat linked to Colt Gray’s Discord account, but a sheriff’s deputy closed the case after Colt denied making the threats. The deputy had not seen screenshots of the messages because the evidence was in an email attachment he couldn’t open on his phone.

Court testimony revealed a troubled family environment, with drug abuse, financial problems, and frequent moves. Colt did not attend a single day of school during the 2023-24 school year. Multiple child welfare agencies and law enforcement departments had interacted with the family in the three years before the shooting.

Colt’s grandmother tried to have him admitted to a crisis center eight days before the shooting but was told parental permission was required. Colin Gray sought help from a counseling service weeks before the shooting but failed to follow through. Marcee Gray, Colt’s mother, testified that she urged Colin to secure his guns and restrict their son’s access to them.

What’s Next

Legal experts say the motion for a new trial is a standard procedural step following a conviction, but it carries particular weight given the landmark nature of the case. Such motions are rarely granted, and the standard for overturning a jury verdict is high. More likely, the motion will be denied and the case will proceed to appeal.

If the conviction stands, it could have broader implications for parental accountability in school shootings. Legal experts suggest the case could encourage more prosecutors to pursue similar charges against parents, potentially changing how firearms are stored in homes with at-risk children.

According to AOL/USA Today, the case remains one of the most closely watched legal proceedings in the country, as courts continue to grapple with the question of how far parental responsibility extends when a child commits an act of mass violence.