WINDER — The 14-year-old accused of fatally shooting two teachers and two students this week at Apalachee High School and his father made their first appearances in court Friday, and prosecutors announced that more charges are forthcoming.
Shackled at the hands and waist, a bleached-blond Colt Gray was the first to appear before Chief Judge Currie Mingledorff at 8:30 a.m. in a Barrow County courtroom filled with victims’ families, deputies, news reporters and other members of the community. Colin Gray, 54, appeared shortly after his son and rocked back and forth in his seat while the judge covered procedural information about his charges and the penalties he faces.
When asked, attorneys for father and son said they were not seeking bail at the time.
“My understanding is this is the second time in the United States and the first time in Georgia,” District Attorney Brad Smith said about charging a father and a son in connection with a shooting. “I would hope that prosecutors would use ... every tool in their arsenal to hold people accountable for crimes that they commit.”
“I’m not trying to send a message, I’m just trying to use the tools in my arsenal to prosecute people for the crimes they commit,” he added.
Colt Gray faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, Mingledorff said, adding that he is not eligible for the death penalty given his age. His father faces a maximum of 180 years in prison.
Following the hearing, Smith said Colt Gray will face additional charges.
“When (Colt Gray) was taken into custody on Wednesday, we did not know the identities or the conditions of the other victims so we were not able to charge on those offenses,” Smith said. “When the evidence comes in and they’ve had a chance to heal physically, emotionally and spiritually, we will get with them and there will be additional charges that address the other victims in the case.”
That could happen at the grand jury’s next meeting, which is Oct. 17, Smith said. When those new charges are filed, Colt Gray will have another first appearance hearing.
Mingledorff said a preliminary hearing in both cases has been set for Dec. 4, but that is subject to change. No date has been set for an arraignment.
Smith and Barrow Sheriff Jud Smith were in the courtroom Friday morning, along with about a dozen sheriff’s deputies who lined the walls during the hearings. As Mingledorff read Colt Gray’s charges, the teen was responsive to the judge’s procedural questions, affirming that he understood.
Victims’ families seated in the front row appeared somber as a man and woman consoled one another at the far end of the bench.
Colin Gray was arrested Thursday on charges including four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, officials said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
GBI Director Chris Hosey said the father’s charges are “directly connected with the actions of his son,” who is also accused of injuring nine others when authorities said he opened fire at the Barrow County school with an AR-style rifle.
Colin Gray’s charges “stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon,” Hosey told reporters Thursday night outside the high school.
Second-degree murder is a relatively new charge in Georgia and is applied differently than in other states, Smith said. It is specifically tied to the prerequisite charge of second-degree cruelty to children.
“If you commit cruelty to children in the second degree that causes a death, that is second-degree murder,” he said.
According to Georgia law, parents or caretakers can be charged with second-degree cruelty to children if investigators can prove criminal negligence. That is, whether an adult was aware or should have been aware of a gun being in the area and did nothing to keep it out of the reach of children. Second-degree murder is added if the negligence results in a death.
It is one of the few legal avenues Georgia prosecutors can use to impose consequences for parents or caregivers who do not securely store their weapons around children, as the state does not have a law requiring the safe storage of firearms.
Those killed were students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and assistant football coach Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and math teacher Cristina Irimie, 53.
The deadly school shooting stunned the school’s tight-knit community.
“There are victims all over the place, and I feel the weight of that,” Smith said Friday. “Not just the victims here, but every victim. You don’t have to have been physically injured in this to be a victim. Everyone in this community was a victim, every child in that school is a victim.”
“I’ve been a prosecutor for 28 years,” Smith added. “We’ve tried extremely difficult, extremely emotional (cases). I would say the scope is the largest — this is an attack on an entire community.”
Hundreds of distraught students and parents returned to campus Thursday to place flowers at the growing memorial outside the school.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Among the mourners was 14-year-old Nicole Cabrera, who was in a nearby classroom Wednesday morning when the gunfire erupted.
“I was in the same hallway,” she said, choking back tears. “I heard everything.”
She had a fourth-period gym class with Angulo and said she was heartbroken that he and three others were killed.
“He was just a really nice person,” Cabrera said. “None of them deserved what happened to them. It’s so messed up.”
Others lamented the lack of gun restrictions in the U.S. and questioned how a 14-year-old boy was able to access the rifle in the first place.
Shayla Hadziahmetovic, a 2018 graduate of Apalachee High, took part in the nationwide student walkout her senior year after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead.
“We were really rattled to find out this happened at our own school,” she said. “Nothing has changed. Nothing’s happening, nothing is being fixed and students are still in fear ... Nobody should have to go to school like this.”
Those injured in Wednesday’s shooting included eight students and one teacher, according to the GBI. Smith said all nine are expected to make a full recovery.
