Gray
Miami, US, Jul 30 (EFE).-
A United States judge sentenced on Thursday Colin Gray, the father of the 14-year-old who killed four people at his Georgia school, to 15 years in prison for second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.
“It is clear you failed as a father,” Judge Nicholas Primm of the Barrow County Superior Court said during sentencing, referring to the father who had gifted his son, Colt Gray, the rifle used in the 2024 school shooting as a Christmas present.
“You did not provide a stable household. You did not have things in check with Marcee’s issues (refering to Colt’s mother) and what the kids were being exposed to. You did not have cult in activities that a boy should be in where he’s making connections with other children in person, where he feels loved, where he feels accepted,” the judge added.
However, the judge clarified that these reasons were not the direct cause of the conviction. Rather, it was the father’s failure to heed the “warning lights (that) were flashing brighter and brighter,” his failure to seek help for his son, and his failure to prevent his son’s access to weapons.
Colt killed four people and wounded nine others at Apalachee High School in Winder, using an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle.
The massacre had been planned months in advance, according to information found in several journals belonging to the teenager, who felt a fascination with the perpetrators of previous school shootings.
On Monday, the same judge sentenced Colt to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Colin Gray faced 27 charges, including second-degree murder and cruelty to children.
Although the judge noted that none of these charges carried a mandatory prison sentence, he emphasized that they constituted a “form of criminal negligence,” resulting in the 15-year prison sentence.
Additionally, the judge noted that Colin should have taken steps to prevent the killings, such as hiding the ammunition, locking the weapon in a safe, or handing it over to someone else while his son was in need of help.
“If you had done that, you wouldn’t be here today,” the judge stated.
This is the first mass shooting case in which a parent has been convicted of murder.
In 2024, James and Jennifer Crumbley became the first parents convicted for similar circumstances following the 2021 school shooting committed by their son, Ethan, in Michigan, which resulted in the deaths of four students. Both were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for failing to act on warning signs and for allowing their son access to the weapon used. EFE
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