A court in the US state of Georgia has sentenced Colin Gray, 55, to 15 years in prison for his criminal culpability in a deadly mass shooting carried out by his teenage son at Apalachee High School.
The sentencing follows a March verdict where a jury deliberated for fewer than two hours before finding the elder Gray guilty of 27 counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, cruelty to children in the second degree, and reckless conduct.
While the prosecution had requested an 80-year term, Judge Nicholas Primm ordered the 15-year sentences for each murder count to run concurrently, reports ABC news.
The September 2024 attack resulted in the deaths of two students and two teachers, while seven others were injured.
The shooter, Colt Gray, now 16, was sentenced earlier this week to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to 55 charges, including murder and aggravated assault.
‘Warning lights were flashing’
During the sentencing hearing, Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith argued that the risk of a tragedy was “staring him in the face every day.”
Evidence revealed that Colin Gray provided his son with an AR-15-style assault rifle as a Christmas gift, despite having been warned by law enforcement months earlier to restrict the boy’s access to firearms.
The court heard that the teenager kept a shrine in his bedroom dedicated to the perpetrator of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Florida. Judge Primm noted that the tragedy could have been prevented if the father had used gun locks or removed ammunition from the house.
“The warning lights were flashing brighter and brighter,” the judge remarked, adding that while no parent expects their child to be a school shooter, it became “obvious that something bad was going to happen.”
Defence and testimony
Defence lawyer Chris Hobbs had sought a 10-year sentence, arguing that while the father was negligent, he had misjudged the “concealed intent” of his son. During the trial, Colin Gray broke down in tears, testifying that he believed his son was a “good kid.”
He claimed the rifle was intended only for use at a shooting range and was given on the condition that the boy graduate from school and turn 18 before taking full ownership.
While several family members of the victims addressed the court to describe their enduring pain, Colin Gray declined to make a statement before his sentence was handed down.
A growing legal trend
This case is the first of its kind in Georgia and marks a growing trend in the US legal system to hold parents accountable for crimes committed by their children.
It follows the 2024 convictions of Jennifer and James Crumbley in Michigan, who received 10 to 15 years after their son killed four students at Oxford High School.
Other similar cases include Robert Crimo Jr in Illinois, who served 60 days in jail for reckless conduct related to his son’s 2022 Fourth of July parade shooting, and Jeffrey Rupnow in Wisconsin, who faces trial next year for allowing his daughter access to weapons used in a school shooting.
