Colin Gray, father of suspected Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, is the first parent to be charged with murder as a result of his child’s actions — but he may not be the last, as questions swirl around whether more parents will be held responsible in such cases.
“It’s a matter of looking at the relationship between what the child says and does and what the parent knows about what the child says and does,” David Shapiro, a former prosecutor who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, told Politico. “You don’t want to be able to allow parents to overlook those kinds of signs there is something seriously wrong or a serious risk.”
In April, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Roberts Crumbley, became the first parents to be convicted of involuntary manslaughter because of the role they played in their son’s school shooting. They were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The president of a gun violence prevention group said it’s simply a matter of parents being more responsible with the guns in their homes.
“If people simply locked up their firearms, we would not be putting parents behind bars for this reason,” said Kris Brown, the president of Brady, a gun violence prevention group. “And we would not be digging as many graves.”
In an exclusive report, the New York Post spoke with a relative of Colt Gray, who said Colin gave Colt the AR-15-style rifle in order to “toughen him up.” Here’s the start of the story:
The father of accused Georgia school shooter Colt Gray believed that his 14-year-old son was too gentle, and bought him the AR-15-style rifle in an attempt to “toughen him up,” a relative claims.
Colin Gray gave his troubled son the assault rifle for Christmas — the weapon that Colt ended up using in last Wednesday’s bloodbath at Apalachee High School that left two teens and two teachers dead, authorities have said.
But it was the way Colin spoke to his son that raised the eyebrows of concerned family members.
“He would call Colt names to his face,” says a relative of Colt’s mother, Marcee. “Names that no boy wants to hear: sissy, p—y, bitch… just names that were meant to break him down and emasculate him.”
The relative added: “Colin always thought that Colt was too gentle and tender. That’s why I believe he gave him the rifle.”
Colt is charged with four counts of murder and will be tried as an adult over the bloody rampage that left two students and two teachers dead, prosecutors said.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Colin, 54, was also arrested in the aftermath of the shooting.