Colin Gray, the father of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, has filed a motion for a new trial less than a week after being sentenced to 15 years in prison. The motion, submitted Wednesday in Barrow County Superior Court, argues that the verdict was “decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence,” according to Atlanta First News.
Conviction and Sentencing
Gray, 55, was convicted in March on charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. He was found guilty of second-degree murder for the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. The shootings occurred on September 4, 2024, when Colt, then 14, opened fire at the school, killing four and wounding eight students and a teacher.
Colt Gray, now 16, was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Colin Gray was sentenced on July 30 and is serving his time at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, a maximum-security facility near Atlanta that also houses the state’s death row.
Legal Arguments for a New Trial
Gray’s legal team claims there was insufficient evidence to convict him, arguing the verdict was “contrary to law and the principles of justice and equity.” The two-page motion challenges the application of Georgia’s second-degree murder law, which requires causing the death of a child while committing cruelty to children. An attorney not involved in the case told Fox 5 Atlanta: “This statute says that in order to be guilty, the person must physically do cruelty to a child when the child dies. Colin Gray didn’t do anything to anyone at that school.”
The prosecution’s case centered on what Gray knew about his son’s deteriorating mental health before gifting him the semiautomatic rifle and ammunition as a Christmas present. Prosecutors argued there were ample warning signs that should have prompted Gray to keep firearms away from his son. Jurors heard that Colt had joined an online true crime community fascinated with mass shooters, and his mother, Gray’s ex-wife, had asked for the weapons to be secured.
Defense and Prosecution Perspectives
Gray’s defense argued that Colt had “actively hid the depth of his involvement” in online communities and appeared to be a normal teenager who enjoyed video games and outdoor trips with his father. Defense attorney Brian Hobbs claimed Colt accelerated his plans for the shooting because his father was attempting to get him mental health treatment. However, prosecutors countered that this did not excuse Gray from acting on the warning signs he had already seen.
Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said Gray “was convicted for what he did know,” arguing he had ignored a “substantial and unjustifiable risk.” Investigator Jason Smith stated: “This was the risk that he was ignoring: that there would be a mass shooting of children at a school, and he gave his son the exact tool he would need to accomplish this. He is the reason four people are dead, seven were injured and countless others were traumatised, and he is the reason a 16-year-old boy was sentenced two days ago to the rest of his life in prison.”
Judge Nicholas Primm acknowledged the case’s unusual nature, noting Gray had no previous criminal history and hadn’t intended for the killings to happen. But he said Gray had failed to act on a foreseeable danger, including not securing firearms when his ex-wife asked. “You failed as a parent,” Primm told him.
Comparisons and Next Steps
The case has drawn comparisons to the Crumbley case, where James and Jennifer Crumbley were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for their son Ethan’s 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan. Both were sentenced to 10 to 15 years, and Ethan received life without parole.
Because Gray was convicted of murder, any eventual appeal would fall under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Supreme Court. The motion for a new trial will be considered by the court, with no date yet set for a hearing.
