Colin Gray, the father of teenage Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, took the stand Friday to testify in his personal protection at his homicide trial and mentioned he by no means noticed any crimson flags that his son would perform a school taking pictures.
“He’s a good kid,” the father mentioned by means of tears. “He wasn’t perfect, nor was I, but to do something that heinous, I don’t know that anybody can see that kind of evil. The Colt I knew, the relationship I had, there was this whole other side of Colt I didn’t know existed.”
But in a fiery cross-examination, Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith challenged him to clarify that place, given Colt had beforehand searched “how to kill your dad” in 2021 and was investigated for threatening a school taking pictures on-line in 2023.
Colin Gray testified that he believed his son’s explanations downplaying and denying these incidents – at the same time as he admitted he didn’t personally look into his son’s on-line exercise.
Colin Gray takes stand in his homicide trial
Colin Gray, the father of Georgia school taking pictures suspect Colt Gray, took the stand to testify in his personal protection at his homicide trial the place he grew to become emotional saying “there was this complete different aspect of Colt I didn’t know existed.”
The key testimony comes a yr and a half after Colt Gray, then 14, introduced that AR-15-style rifle to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and opened hearth. Four folks have been killed and 9 have been injured, earlier than the teen surrendered to police.
Prosecutors have accused Colin Gray of permitting his son unsecured entry to the weapon regardless of warnings that his son was a danger to others, actions that represent criminally reckless conduct. The state rested its case Thursday after about two weeks of testimony.
Gray was the protection’s solely witness and completed his testimony late Friday. Closing arguments are set for Monday, the choose mentioned.
Gray has pleaded not responsible to almost 30 prices, together with two counts every of second-degree homicide and involuntary manslaughter. His attorneys have argued he was unaware his son was planning the taking pictures and had taken steps to strive to get him assist.
The trial is a part of a broader push to maintain extra folks accountable for a school taking pictures, together with the shooter’s parents and responding law enforcement officers. This case bears shut similarities to the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose then-15-year-old son killed 4 college students in 2021 at his excessive school in Oxford, Michigan.
Colt Gray admitted to the taking pictures, in accordance to authorities. Now 16, he has pleaded not responsible to 55 felony counts, together with 4 counts of malice homicide. A trial date has not been set.
In his testimony Friday, Colin Gray defined for the jury a few of his actions and how he interpreted his son’s troubles.
He mentioned he first launched his son to firearms in an try to bond with him and get him away from screens and video video games.
“My thought process was, I will do whatever I have to do to get Colt interested in the outdoors,” he mentioned.
He mentioned he first purchased a Bushmaster rifle that Colt used at the vary and out deer searching. The day Colt shot his first deer was “the greatest day of my life,” Colin Gray mentioned. But when the gun repeatedly jammed, he traded it in for a Sig Sauer – an AR-15-style rifle – which he gifted to Colt Gray for Christmas 2023.
Video: Police interview Georgia taking pictures suspect again in 2023
He defended his choice to purchase the weapon and to preserve a number of unsecured, unlocked weapons in the home – at the same time as he observed his son’s psychological well being points.
“I was very clear on the rules. No loaded guns in the house ever, and he abided by those rules. He respected the weapon,” he mentioned. “We didn’t have it in a safe. We didn’t have locks on it. But I’m telling you, he had a healthy respect for weapons.”
In May 2023, deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office visited Colt and Colin Gray’s house after receiving an FBI tip about an online threat to shoot up a school.
Colin Gray testified he took the difficulty very critically, however mentioned legislation enforcement was in the end not in a position to substantiate the tip. “Nobody could ever really tell me if this was him,” he mentioned.
The father mentioned he typically stored the firearms on the prime shelf of his bed room closet, and not using a lock or secure. The Sig Sauer rifle was generally in Colt’s room, primarily earlier than or after a visit to the gun vary, he testified.
Colin Gray struggled to clarify Colt’s lack of education in eighth grade, as data confirmed he didn’t attend any school the whole 2023-24 school yr. He tried to get Colt into a web based home-schooling program, however they couldn’t discover an open spot, and Colt fell additional and additional behind, he mentioned.
“It was never, ‘I don’t give a damn if he goes to eighth grade.’ That’s not what happened here. It was a very fluid kind of thing,” he mentioned. “Could I have done better? Yes, I could have done better. I could have done more. I see that now.”
He acknowledged Colt Gray generally grew to become “frustrated” and on just a few events “bull-rushed” him in bodily altercations. Still, he described his son as “thoughtful” and “respectful,” and he mentioned their firearm passion was a approach to construct their father-son relationship.
Colin Gray used his testimony to strive to clarify or deny different testimony offered by the prosecution.
Just a few weeks earlier than the taking pictures, Colt Gray despatched a textual content to his father saying, “Whenever something happens just know the blood is on your hands.”
Colin Gray testified that he believed that remark was associated to a earlier incident, when his estranged spouse, Marcee Gray, who was battling drug and alcohol dependancy, had allegedly threatened to kill Colt. He mentioned he didn’t imagine that Colt was making his personal menace in that textual content.
In addition, Marcee Gray testified earlier in the trial that Colin Gray was supposed to take Colt to a disaster counseling program in Athens on the Saturday earlier than the taking pictures, however he didn’t achieve this. However, Colin Gray testified he by no means agreed to that plan, saying he had made plans to get Colt counseling by means of the school the following week.
“We had a plan in place,” he mentioned.
He mentioned he didn’t know his son was fascinated with school shooters and didn’t see the shrine of pictures of Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland school shooter, on Colt’s bed room wall. He additionally denied ever telling his daughter to lie on his behalf, as she testified earlier this week, saying he was “shocked” by her testimony.
Just hours after the taking pictures, legislation enforcement officers went to Colin Gray’s house, and he blurted aloud, “I knew it,” in accordance to police body-camera footage. He testified Friday he made that remark as a result of he had lastly pieced collectively what occurred, however he reiterated he didn’t know forward of time that Colt would perform a school taking pictures.
“I never heard or he never spoke to me about doing anything as drastic as he had done,” he mentioned.
Smith, the District Attorney, sharply questioned Colin Gray on cross-examination.
In the May 2023 interview with sheriff’s deputies a couple of Discord menace, Colin Gray didn’t point out that Colt had beforehand gotten in bother for looking out “how to kill your dad,” he acknowledged. The officers suggested him to be certain the weapons weren’t freely obtainable and mendacity round the home, Colin Gray testified.
“Because you don’t want dangerous kids to have access to dangerous instruments, do you?” Smith requested.
“That’s correct,” Gray mentioned.
“That’s just reasonable, right?” he requested.
“Yep,” Gray mentioned.
After that interview, Colin Gray took Colt’s pc away for a interval however didn’t lock up the firearms, he testified. He mentioned the weapons have been out of attain “for the most part,” putting them in the prime of his bed room closet.
He acknowledged he made incorrect statements denying that his household was investigated by the Georgia Division of Family & Children Services, often called DFCS. “If I did not remember every single detail that you were asking me at that point, that is my bad,” he mentioned.
He additionally admitted he had lied to his boss on the day of the taking pictures about why he had to go away early, and he had lied to his sister about why he wanted to borrow cash.
Marcee Gray had expressed considerations about Colt’s misbehavior, however Colin Gray testified he was skeptical of her model of occasions.
“I believe my son more than I believe his mother,” he testified.
The state rested its case Thursday after about two weeks, together with emotional testimony from students and teachers who survived the taking pictures, police interviews with Colin Gray, photos showing unsecured firearms and ammo in the house and testimony from the teen’s mom, grandmother and sister about their unsettled household life.
Earlier this week, jurors heard two prolonged police interrogations of Colin Gray after the taking pictures.
Video reveals Colt Gray’s actions round school earlier than lethal taking pictures
NCS’s Isabel Rosales experiences on the newest from the trial of Colin Gray, who prosecutors say bears duty for the lethal 2024 taking pictures allegedly carried out by his son at the teen’s Georgia excessive school. On Thursday, Jurors watched video exhibiting the shooter’s actions inside the school on the day of the assault. Colin Gray has pleaded not responsible to almost 30 prices, together with two counts every of second-degree homicide and involuntary manslaughter.
The father mentioned he first launched his son to firearms in an try to bond with him and get him away from screens and video video games. He additionally acknowledged the teen’s conduct had escalated and develop into extra aggressive in the earlier 5 to seven months, and that he had signed paperwork with the school to get him into counseling.
The protection sought to use the recording to humanize Colin Gray as a working father attempting to take care of his three youngsters whereas serving to his spouse recuperate from drug and alcohol dependancy.
Marcee Gray testified Colt Gray was riddled with nervousness, simply agitated and had a panic assault. She mentioned it was “very obvious” he wanted skilled assist, however Colin Gray “just didn’t want to deal with it.”
When the state’s last witness was on the stand, prosecutors performed for the courtroom surveillance video exhibiting Colt Gray’s actions in school earlier than, throughout and after the taking pictures. The video, components of which weren’t proven to the public, left Colin Gray in tears at the defendant’s desk.
This story has been up to date with extra info.