Colin Gray trial: Jury deliberations to begin in murder trial of accused Apalachee school shooter's father

After days of witness testimony, the jury will begin deliberations in the murder trial of Colin Gray, the father of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray.

On Monday, both the prosecution and defense shared their closing arguments in the trial, leaving the jury to debate whether Colin Gray will be found guilty on 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty of all charges.

Prosecutors say Colin Gray should be held accountable for giving his son the weapon despite alleged threats and warning signs that the boy was mentally unstable. Defense attorneys have argued their client was trying to look out for his troubled son and had no idea about the violence he would commit.

Prosecutors say "blood is on their hands"

Speaking to the jury, the prosecution began by laying out the many students, teachers, and officers who acted bravely during the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting that left four dead and many others injured.

"Every person in this community wanted to know one thing: who did this and how did it happen? Everyone except for that man, the defendant Colin Gray," the prosecution said. "He was not asking that question because he knew exactly who had done this and how this happened."

Prosecutors argued that the Barrow County man was the "one person who could have prevented" the mass shooting, but instead he was the one who gave his son the tools that he used in the shooting. Investigators say that Colin Gray purchased the weapon for his son for Christmas, as well as the ammunition.

"The blood is on their hands," the prosecutors said. They argued that there were "months and months and years of warning signs" of the violence, pointing to past testimony about the teen's fascination with school shooters and violence.

"The defendant had sufficient warning that his son was a bomb waiting to go off, and instead of disarming him, he gave him the detonator," the prosecution said.

During multiple instances, Colin Gray did nothing to get his son treatment, instead choosing to isolate him, they argued.

"He was never willing to get his son help, and he was never willing to take the rifle out of the room," the prosecution said.

Defense argues Colt Gray was solely to blame for shooting

During Attorney Jimmy Berry's closing arguments, he said that the jury had heard a large amount of "speculation and conjecture" about what Colin Gray was thinking or should have done, but said that was not enough to convict his client.

"Georgia law does not require a gun be locked up, or ammunition be locked up. So that's not a criminal act. Having a gun in the house, having ammunition in the house, is not a criminal act," he said.

Berry argued that Colin Gray did not know his son would commit an act of violence.

While Berry acknowledged the "horror" the Apalachee students and community went through, he said that the case was not about what happened during the shooting; instead he argued that the blame was on 14-year-old Colt, whom called he manipulative and smart.

"Everybody wants to see somebody go to jail other than this young man right here," he said, pulling out a picture of Colt Gray. "This is the person who went into the high school and shot and killed four people he didn't even know and injured scores of others. This is the person who needs to be punished. He made a conscious decision to do this - a secretive decision."

Berry argued that not a single email shown or witness during the trial said Colt told his dad he was going to do a shooting, and said that he was left in the dark about his son's intentions by both the teen and his estranged wife.

"How's he supposed to get this? Through osmosis? People don't tell him things," Berry said. "How is he supposed to know?"

During Colin Gray's testimony on Friday, he had told the court that he hadn't seen any "red flags" that would have made him believe his son was capable of a school shooting.

"No, I struggle with it every day," he said, trying to hold back tears.

"He's a good kid," Gray added. "He wasn't perfect, and nor was I. But to do something that heinous, like I don't know of anybody that can ever see that kind of evil. Like the Colt I knew and the relationship I had — there's this whole other side of Colt I didn't know existed."

A landmark case in Georgia

Colin Gray's prosecution marks the third time a parent has been charged for their connection to a mass shooting allegedly carried out by their child, and the first adult charged in connection with a school shooting in Georgia.

The charges came five months after Michigan parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for not securing a firearm at home and acting indifferently to signs of their son's deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021.

A trial date for Colt Gray has not been set as official wait on a psychological evaluation. His next hearing is scheduled for March 18.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.