ATLANTA (AP) — Jury selection began Monday in the trial of Colin Gray, the father of the teenager accused of carrying out the Sept. 4, 2024, shootings at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, that left four people dead and others wounded. Colt Gray, then 14, is accused of killing two students and two teachers, according to prosecutors and investigators. Colin Gray’s trial is being held in Winder in Barrow County, but prospective jurors are being questioned about 25 miles away in Gainesville in Hall County.
Colin Gray faces 29 counts in the case, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter and numerous counts of second-degree cruelty to children, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors say an indictment alleges he committed cruelty to children by giving his son access to a gun and ammunition “after receiving sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger the bodily safety of another.” The murder counts are tied to Georgia’s definition of second-degree murder in a child-cruelty framework, with prosecutors describing the charges as death resulting from the cruelty-to-children crimes.
Investigators have said Colt Gray carefully planned the attack. In testimony described by prosecutors, he wrote step-by-step plans in a notebook, including diagrams and potential body counts. Prosecutors also said Colt Gray brought an assault-style rifle to school and used it during the shootings, leaving a second-period class and emerging from a bathroom before shooting people in a classroom and hallways.
Prosecutors also laid out what they say were warning signs before the September attack. They testified that Colin Gray had given his son the gun as a gift the Christmas before the shooting and later bought a larger magazine so the weapon could hold more rounds. Investigators further testified that the teen was obsessed with school shooters and had a shrine in his bedroom to Nikolas Cruz, the person who carried out the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Prosecutors said Colt Gray’s mental health deteriorated and that Colin Gray sought help through a counseling service weeks before the shooting. Investigators testified that Gray wrote about his son in a way that described the boy’s anger, anxiety and volatility and said, “We have had a very difficult past couple of years and he needs help. Anger, anxiety, quick to be volatile. I don’t know what to do.” Prosecutors also testified that Gray and his son’s mother discussed the teen’s fascination with school shooters, describing the concern as joking in context rather than a serious issue.
Before the case moved into jury selection, Colin Gray’s legal team sought to change the venue, arguing that publicity could taint the pool of potential jurors in Barrow County. Prosecutors agreed to a shift and said the shooting’s impact on the community supported the change, the AP reported. The defense was unhappy with the judge’s decision to draw the jury pool from Hall County, arguing it was “within the geographic epicenter of this tragedy” despite being chosen for convenience.
The judge set Colin Gray’s bond at $500,000, but he has remained in custody since his arrest the day after the shooting. The judge has blocked off three weeks for jury selection and set aside time for the trial, but it was unclear as of Monday how long jury selection would take or how long the trial itself would last once testimony begins.
The case has also drawn comparisons to other prosecutions in which parents have been charged after children are accused of mass violence. The AP cited the cases of Jennifer and James Crumbley, the first parents in the U.S. held criminally responsible for a school shooting attributed to their child; they were convicted in a case involving the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in Michigan and are serving 10-year prison terms for involuntary manslaughter. The AP also referenced charges against Jeffrey Rupnow in connection with a Wisconsin school shooting attributed to his daughter and cited other cases involving alleged firearms access and warnings.
At the center of Monday’s proceedings is Colt Gray’s pending separate criminal case, in which he was indicted on a total of 55 counts, including murder charges connected to the deaths of four people and 25 counts of aggravated assault, according to the AP report. Colt Gray has pleaded not guilty, and the AP said that a lawyer for the teenager had earlier indicated in a May hearing that the teen would likely be ready to plead guilty after a psychologist’s report. The AP added that new lawyers have started representing Colt Gray since then, and that a brief December hearing included a plan for a status hearing in mid-March.
MSI previously reported on the trial’s later start in the case of Colin Gray. MSI previously reported that trial begins for father of teen accused in Georgia school shooting.