Breaking: Father Jailed for 15 Yrs in Prison for Giving Son Gun Used in High School Shooting
- Colin Gray received a 15-year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and involuntary m@nslaughter
- His son, Colt Gray, carried out the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School that killed two students and two teachers
- Victims' families urged the judge to hand Colin Gray the maximum sentence, saying he left a firearm accessible to a minor
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A Georgia father has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for supplying his teenage son with the rifle used in a mass shooting that left four people dead at Apalachee High School in September 2024.
Colin Gray, 55, was convicted in March by a jury on two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and on two counts of involuntary m@nslaughter for the deaths of teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Seven other students and one more teacher were also wounded in the attack, which took place at the school located about 45 miles north-east of Atlanta.
Source: Twitter
The sentencing came just days after Gray's son, Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
What the judge said at sentencing
Judge Nicholas Primm acknowledged that all of Colin Gray's offences were crimes of negligence linked directly to what his son did, Sky News reported.
"My heart aches for everyone that was there that day, for all of you that have been impacted by it. But the law requires that I set aside emotion. I don't get to sentence with passion. I have the nearly impossible task of sentencing you without passion despite the immeasurable heartache that you caused," the judge said.
The defence had asked for a sentence equivalent to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years on probation. The district attorney argued Gray deserved 80 years behind bars.
How the shooting unfolded
Prosecutors said Colin Gray gave his son the semiautomatic rifle as a Christmas present, together with ammunition, a gun sight, and other accessories. On the day of the shooting, Colt Gray brought the weapon to school on the bus with the barrel wrapped in poster board. He left a classroom, went to the bathroom, and returned to the hallway armed, where he opened fire on students and staff.
Testimony at his sentencing hearing revealed Colt had shown signs of worsening mental health in the weeks before the attack. His mother, Marcee Gray, who was separated from Colin Gray at the time, told investigators she had raised concerns with her estranged husband, specifically asking him to secure his weapons and limit their son's access to them, CBC news reported.
Colt was also reportedly part of an online community where young people discussed an obsession with mass shooters.
Family members of those killed addressed the court and called for the harshest possible punishment.
"He did not pull the trigger but purchased and left a firearm accessible to a minor," said Shayna Aspinwall, the wife of slain teacher Richard Aspinwall. She said the sentence must account for "the families left behind who must carry the grief and trauma for the rest of our lives."
Colin Gray is among only a small number of American parents to face criminal charges following a shooting carried out by their child.
Families of Texas school shooting victims sue gunmaker
Previously, Legit.ng reported that several families whose children were killed or wounded in a mass shooting at their Texas school two years ago have sued the gun manufacturer as well as Instagram and video game company Activision for marketing the weapon, their lawyer said Friday.
Nineteen young children and two teachers were killed in the city of Uvalde on May 24, 2022 when a teenage gunman went on a rampage with an AR-15 style assault rifle at Robb Elementary School, in America's deadliest school shooting in a decade.
Source: Legit.ng
