Apalachee HS shooting: Judge weighing challenge to father's indictment
Colin Gray seeks indictment dismissal
The father of the accused Apalachee High School shooter returned to a Barrow County courtroom on Tuesday morning. His attorneys not only wanted his indictment to be dropped but they also asked the judge to reconsider their change of venue motion.
BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - The father of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray was back in court on Tuesday for a motions hearing ahead of his trial later this year.
Colin Gray faces 29 charges, including second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children.
Colin Gray indictment challenged
Colin Gray, the father of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, was back in court on Tuesday for a motions hearing. His attorneys are challenging the indictment, saying it is unconstitutional and vague. They are also unhappy with the venue selection for the trial.
Defense Argues for Dismissal
What they're saying:
Defense attorneys filed both general and special demurrers, arguing the charges — including second-degree murder, cruelty to children, reckless conduct, and involuntary manslaughter — are legally vague and fail to properly allege key elements like proximate cause and foreseeability. They want the indictment dismissed or redrafted.
"I think the indictment just is very vague. It does not put us on notice of exactly what we have to defend," defense attorney Jimmy Berry said.
The indictment accuses the father of criminal negligence for allowing his son access to a gun, even after receiving "sufficient warning" that the teen could pose a danger. But the defense said the indictment doesn’t explain what that warning was, who gave it, or when.
The prosecution pushed back, saying that the indictment meets legal standards. They argued it clearly outlines the defendant’s failure to act after warnings and says that negligence led to multiple deaths. They added that Georgia law does not require every detail to be included in an indictment and that issues like proximate cause are for a jury to decide.
"Ultimately, if the defendant had sufficient warning that his son was dangerous, then he should have taken his AR 15 rifle away from him," Barrow County District Attorney Patricia Brooks explained to the court.
FULL: Colin Gray motion hearing
The defense team for Colin Gray, father of accused Apalachee HS shooter Colt Gray, have submitted a new request related to the location of the trial.
The indictment adequately alleges a crime, and it's up for the jury to decide whether or not the state can prove that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Brooks added.
What's next:
The judge gave both sides a week to submit proposed orders summarizing their arguments. A ruling on the demurrers will follow.
Venue Still in Question
What they're saying:
Defense attorneys also asked the judge to reconsider moving the trial to Hall County, arguing it's still too close to the area where the crime occurred and that "demographically, it doesn’t match." The court chose Hall County after finding that more distant counties couldn’t accommodate a three-week trial this year.
The judge explained the challenge of balancing location, juror availability, and logistics. "I think allowing [jurors] to continue some normalcy of life increases the odds that we don’t have jurors do something they’re not supposed to do," he said, referring to the decision not to sequester the jury.
The court plans to finalize hearing dates for additional motions and will revisit the venue issue if jury selection in Hall County proves problematic.
What's next:
Additional motions are expected to be filed July 15. It was reported previously that the trial is expected to begin Sept. 8.
Why was Colin Gray charged?
The backstory:
The elder Gray was charged with allowing his 14-year-old son access to the weapon investigators say was used to kill four people and injure nine others at Apalachee High School in September 2024.
The mass shooting at Apalachee High School occurred on Sept. 4, 2024. On that date, Colt Gray allegedly killed math teacher Cristina Irimie, Coach Richard Aspinwall, 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, and 14-year-old Christian Angulo. The students were identified as Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, and the teachers were Cristina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39.
Investigators later found a notebook they say belonged to Gray that contained drawings eerily matching the events of the school shooting, as well as a checklist outlining steps the teen planned to take. They also reportedly found a "shrine of sorts" behind Gray's computer desk in his home, consisting of approximately 15 photographs and newspaper articles about past school shootings and school shooters.
Colt Gray, Colin Gray (Barrow County Sheriff's Office) (Barrow County Sheriff's Office)
The GBI say they learned from Colin Gray that he had received unsettling text messages from both his daughter and ex-wife on the day of the shooting. After reading the texts, Colin said he went home and turned on the news, where he saw reports of the shooting at Colt’s school. He told investigators that he then went to Colt’s room to look for the AR-15-style rifle he had given him, only to find it missing. Investigators testified that Colin Gray did not seem surprised when he was informed of the shooting and did not immediately express remorse after learning about the incident.
Colt Gray faces 55 charges, including four counts of murder, four counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated battery, 25 counts of aggravated assault, and 18 counts of cruelty to children in the first degree.
Dig deeper:
Earlier this year, a Barrow County Superior Court judge ruled that local jurors would not be used in the case.
While Gray's attorneys were asking for the trial to be moved to South Georgia, the judge ruled that it should remain in Barrow County with Hall County jurors as the pool.
Court documents obtained by FOX 5 have revealed that Colin Gray's trial is set to begin on Sept. 8, 2025.
The Source: Information for this report came from court documents and previous FOX 5 reporting.