WINDER, Ga. (CN) — The father of a 14-year-old accused of fatally shooting four people at a Georgia high school in September pleaded not guilty to all charges Thursday.
Colin Gray was indicted last month on 29 charges, including second-degree murder, manslaughter, cruelty to children and reckless conduct, in connection with the Sept. 4 attack at Apalachee High School where his son, Colt Gray, is accused of opening fire on students and staff. Two other 14-year-old students and two teachers were killed. Several others were injured.
The 54-year-old father did not appear in Barrow County Superior Court on Thursday as his attorneys Jimmy Berry and Brian Hobbs, at a roughly five-minute hearing, formally waived his appearance and entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
The defense attorneys filed motions late Wednesday related to discovery and evidence against their client and said they plan to file around 30 additional motions in coming days.
Prosecutors said the charges against the father stem from reckless conduct and providing his son a firearm while knowing he was a threat to himself and others.
During a preliminary hearing last month, Georgia Bureau of Investigations agents detailed extensive warning signs surrounding his teen son leading up to the day he decided to open fire at his high school, that state prosecutors say Colin Gray ignored.
They said Colin Gray gave his son the assault rifle used in the attack as a Christmas gift and allowed him to keep it next to his bed, despite numerous raised concerns about the son’s mental health. He later bought his son a tactical vest, ammunition and sights for the weapon and larger-capacity magazines for the rifle at his son’s request, according to investigators.
Investigators testified that the father was aware that his son was fascinated with school shooters and even had a shrine above his home computer for the gunman in the 2018 massacre in Parkland, Florida, but didn’t take any action.
Colin Gray gave the gun to his son after local authorities came to his home in May 2023 to speak with him and his son about a tip they received from the FBI about school shooting threats reportedly made by Colt Gray online on the messaging app Discord. Despite the father and the teen acknowledging having access to several weapons at home, local deputies left the home and determined there was not enough evidence to tie Colt Gray to the online posts which he denied making.
The case marks the first time the parent of a school shooter suspect has been charged with murder.
It is only the second time in U.S. history that a parent has faced manslaughter charges in connection to a mass shooting committed by their child and the first time for the state of Georgia. In April, Jennifer and James Crumbley were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for allowing their 15-year-old son Ethan Crumbley to have a gun despite his declining mental health. The shooter was convicted of killing four classmates at Oxford High School in Michigan and sentenced to life in prison without parole last year.
Colt Gray also pleaded not guilty in October. He was detained by school resource officers at the scene of the crime and although he is being held at a juvenile facility in Gainesville, Georgia, prosecutors say they plan to prosecute him as an adult.
The teen was indicted on 55 charges last month including felony murder, malice murder, aggravated battery, cruelty to children in the first degree and aggravated assault. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
After the judge originally assigned to the case recused himself earlier this month due to his upcoming retirement, it was reassigned to Barrow County Superior Court Judge Sarah Griffie.
There have been at least 58 incidents of school shootings recorded in the United States in 2024 on K-12 school grounds and college campuses.
Last month, students at Apalachee High School returned to school full time over a month after the incident with additional school resource officers present.