Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday afternoon in the murder trial of Colin Gray, the Barrow County father accused of enabling the weapon access that prosecutors say led to the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School.
Gray, 55, is charged with 29 felonies, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. Authorities allege his teenage son, Colt Gray, carried out the Sept. 4, 2024 attack using an AR-15-style rifle his father had given him months earlier as a Christmas gift. Two teachers and two students were killed. Nine others were injured.
The case is being closely watched nationwide because it seeks to hold a parent criminally responsible in connection with a school shooting committed by a child. In Michigan, the only other parents to face trial under similar circumstances were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to prison terms of at least a decade.
Over nearly two weeks of testimony in Barrow County Superior Court, jurors have heard sharply conflicting accounts about what warning signs existed and how seriously they were treated.
The panel — brought in daily from Hall County to avoid local influence — listened to emotional testimony from Colt Gray’s mother and sister. Marcee Gray told jurors she urged her estranged husband to remove firearms from their son’s access as the teen struggled with anger and violent ideation. The sister testified her father was aware of her brother’s fascination with past school shooters but allowed a rifle to remain in his bedroom.
Colin Gray took the stand in his own defense, describing himself as a father trying to hold his family together while navigating marital breakdown and his son’s behavioral challenges. He said he bonded with Colt through hunting and target practice and maintained strict household rules requiring firearms to remain unloaded.
“He had a healthy respect for weapons,” Gray testified.
During cross-examination, Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith confronted Gray with school discipline records, prior threats reported to law enforcement and the father’s own online searches seeking help for a “troubled teen.” Smith pressed him about whether a child described as volatile and anxious should have access to a semiautomatic rifle.
Prosecutors also presented surveillance footage from inside the school, financial records documenting the rifle purchase and evidence they described as a paper trail of ammunition and tactical accessories. Some of those items were recovered after the shooting.
Before closing arguments begin, Judge Nicholas Primm is expected to hold a charge conference Monday morning outside the presence of the jury. During that proceeding, attorneys will debate how the law should be explained to jurors for each of the 29 counts.
Once that process is complete, both sides will have 90 minutes to deliver their final arguments. Unlike opening statements, closing arguments allow attorneys to argue how the evidence should be interpreted and why it supports their position.
After closings conclude, the judge will read the finalized jury instructions. Jurors will then begin deliberations with no set time limit. Any verdict must be unanimous.
If convicted on all counts, Gray faces a potential sentence that could amount to decades in prison.
PREVIOUS TRIAL STORIES
- Colin Gray trial: Father claims he never saw signs of ‘evil’ in son
- Colin Gray trial: State expected to show footage from school shooting
- Colin Gray trial: State rests, Colin Gray to testify on Friday
- Apalachee HS shooting trial: Colt Gray’s sister says dad told her to lie to investigators
- Colin Gray: Prosecution to rest after school shooting video
- Apalachee HS shooting: Colt Gray’s mother describes ‘aggressive and unpredictable’ behavior
- Apalachee HS shooting: Students testify on day 2 of Colin Gray trial
- Apalachee HS shooting: Deputy describes interaction with Colin Gray
- Apalachee High School shooting: Colin Gray trial starts with emotional testimony
