Apalachee shooting suspect was ‘obsessed’ with Parkland incident, jury told
Before he carried out the deadliest school shooting in Georgia history at Apalachee High School, Colt Gray obsessively studied school shooters and even sent money to the person convicted of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, attorneys revealed to a jury on Monday.
Colt Gray originally planned the Apalachee attack, which killed two students and two teachers and injured several others on Sept. 4, 2024, to coincide with the anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in the U.S., defense attorneys said.
Colt Gray had built a shrine of sorts to the Parkland shooter, Nikolas Cruz, on a poster board that prosecutors showed to the jury on Monday during opening statements of the trial of Gray’s father, Colin Gray.
Cruz is serving multiple life sentences without parole in prison after killing 17 students and staff and injuring at least 17 others at the Florida high school.
Colt Gray had apparently tried to reach Cruz in prison via email and even sent money to him, according to text messages described by attorneys to the jury.
But still, defense attorneys said, Colin Gray didn’t know about all that.
Colin Gray is charged with 29 counts related to the fatal shooting at Apalachee, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, five counts of reckless conduct and 20 counts of child cruelty.
Prosecutors allege that Colin Gray knowingly allowed his son access to guns and ammunition “after receiving sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger the bodily safety of another” and caused “with criminal negligence” the death of the four victims.
Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith told jurors that Gray knew his son was a danger, highlighting events that he said created a problematic home life for the boy and impacted his mental health. Yet Colin Gray still bought his son a SIG Sauer M400 rifle and weapon attachments as a Christmas present, prosecutors said.
Smith frequently reminded jurors that through all the domestic turbulence, which his father contributed to, guns were still easily accessible in the home.
“This is not a case about holding parents accountable for what their children do,” Smith told jurors. “This is a case about (Colin Gray’s) actions and the horrific consequences of them.”
Smith went through, in detail, everything that occurred inside the school the morning of the shooting, including revealing to jurors how Colt Gray carried out the attack that ended with two students — Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn — and two teachers — Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall — dead.
He provided time stamps with a step-by-step description on how Colt Gray carried out the attack, focusing on the frantic search school officials unsuccessfully carried out looking for him before he opened fire.
Colin Gray’s attorney Brian Hobbs didn’t shy away from what prosecutors were saying about his client’s son. Hobbs told jurors about the emails and money he was sending Cruz in prison.
However, Colt Gray only discussed his fascination with school shooters with his mother, Marcee Gray, who never told Colin Gray, Hobbs said. At one point, Colt Gray even told his mother that he had tricked his father into giving him money to buy a computer video game but that he had instead sent the money to Cruz.
His mother, who has faced a number of legal issues in her own right and lost custody of Colt Gray because of a Georgia Division of Family & Children Services case, replied with a laughing emoji when her son told her about the money sent to Cruz, Hobbs said.
Colin Gray tried to get his son mental health help and was preparing to admit him into a facility in the days leading up to the shooting, Hobbs said. Smith told jurors that he didn’t follow through with those plans before the shooting occurred.
His attempt to help his son prompted Colt Gray to accelerate the timing for the shooting to September instead, Hobbs said.
The defense attorney argued that his client was not aware of his son’s plan to carry out the shooting. He said Colt Gray lived a double life by not letting his father into his troubling thoughts.
Hobbs described the shooting at Apalachee as “tragic,” “horrific,” “terrifying” and “heartbreaking” but warned jurors that their job is not to focus on the shooting, rather on whether or not Colin Gray knew what Colt Gray was going to do.
He said nobody, including law enforcement and school counselors who interacted with him, warned Colin Gray about his son and what he could end up doing.
“There needs to be proof that Colin Gray knew what Colt was going to do and knew that Colt was going to harm someone,” Hobbs said, adding that Colin Gray would check in often with his son.
The trial is expected to last three weeks, with the first couple of witnesses being Apalachee teachers, victims’ parents and law enforcement, including Barrow County Sheriff Judd Smith, focusing exclusively on the shooting and the aftermath at the school rather than on Colin Gray.
Video surveillance was shown of Colt Gray entering a classroom with his backpack, stuffed with the gun concealed by a poster board disguised as a school project, before asking to leave to go see a counselor. Instead, he went to a bathroom, pulled out the gun and opened fire.
Family members of the victims were in attendance during the first day of trial.
A Hall County jury will be deciding Colin Gray’s fate after Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm ruled that jurors from the neighboring county will be transported daily and be able to remain fair and impartial.
Before this case, only the parents of a Michigan school shooter had faced charges relating to a school shooting their child had committed.
In that case, Jennifer and James Crumbley were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to at least 10 years in prison after their 15-year-old son, Ethan, opened fire in a suburban Detroit high school, killing four students.
Colt Gray is facing 55 charges, including murder and 25 counts of aggravated assault. He originally pleaded not guilty, but his attorneys indicated he might change his plea following a mental health evaluation, expected to be completed by the end of February.
Primm had indicated Colin Gray’s trial should go first and finish before moving on to Colt Gray’s case.
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