What to expect in second week of Apalachee shooting suspect’s dad’s trial
The trial against Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray, is in full swing as prosecutors bring up dozens of witnesses to recount the aftermath of the shooting.
Colin Gray is facing 29 charges related to the September 2024 shooting, 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 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.
Here is what to know about the trial so far, and what to expect as it continues Monday morning:
An obsession with Parkland shooter
District Attorney Brad Smith wasted no time in telling jurors that the case was not about holding parents accountable for what their children do, but rather about Colin Gray’s actions that prosecutors say led to the fatal shooting.
He went on to describe the teen’s troubled home life and how guns were easily accessible inside the home, including the fact that Colin Gray had bought his son a SIG Sauer M400 rifle and weapon attachments for Christmas.
The gun was later used in the shooting that ended with two students — Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn — and two teachers — Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall — dead.
Colin Gray’s attorney Brian Hobbs focused more on Colt Gray’s purported obsession with Parkland, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, revealing to jurors that he had sent emails and even money to the convicted shooter, who is serving time in prison after the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Hobbs said nobody told the father about the mental health problems his son had, and that Colt Gray lived a double life by not letting his father into his troubling thoughts.
Bullet scars, bad dreams, anxiety
For the first couple of days of testimony, the prosecutors focused on the actual shooting and the direct aftermath.
From law enforcement and medics who treated the victims to students and teachers in the classroom where Colt Gray allegedly opened fire, they one by one recounted their experience dealing with the deadliest school shooting in state history.
Students described bullet scars, bad dreams and anxiety about school and loud noises during their testimony. Parents testified about how they went to the school looking for their children and the agonizing wait to having them safe and sound back in their arms.
On Wednesday, a medical expert testified the victims’ injuries were so severe they would have died even if they’d been shot at a hospital with medical assistance immediately available.
‘I knew it’
On Thursday, prosecutors turned their focus to Colin Gray. They showed jurors body camera footage of when deputies arrived at the Grays home hours after the shooting.
“God! I knew it, man. My little girl just texted me,” a seemingly distraught Colin Gray told deputies in his driveway. “She’s in middle school. She said we’re in lockdown. I said, ‘God almighty, please tell me your brother didn’t do something.’”
Law enforcement officers testified about their interactions with the Grays, including a 2023 interview in which Jackson County deputies interviewed the father and son about a school shooting threat made online.
On Friday, prosecutors shifted their focus back to Colt Gray, showing jurors and the public inside the teen’s tumultuous home life. Dozens of pictures showing ammunition and guns throughout the Winder home were shown to jurors.
A picture of the “shrine” Colt Gray had put up on his wall containing pictures of Nikolas Cruz and news articles about the shooting was also shown to jurors.
Prosecutors ended the week by bringing Colt Gray’s maternal grandmother, Deborah Polhamus, to the stand to recount what happened over the years and months leading up to the shooting.
Polhamus is the first Gray family member to testify in the trial.
She testified that the family had a lot of problems in the past five years, including drug abuse and law enforcement encounters, and that Colt Gray’s mental health deteriorated quickly in the weeks before the shooting. She also testified that she spoke with Colin Gray about it.
What’s next?
Prosecutors indicated that they had nine witnesses left, with some of them expected to have lengthy testimony.
One of those witnesses is Colt’s mother, Marcee Gray, who is still married to Colin Gray but lives separately. She is expected to testify on Monday.
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