Mother of 14-year-old alleged school shooter describes son’s behavior as ‘horrifying’

The mother of a 14-year-old boy accused of killing four people and injuring others at Apalachee High School in Georgia testified Monday that her son’s behavior was “scary” when he moved in with her in 2023.

Marcee Gray, Colin Gray’s estranged wife, decided on Monday to discuss their son’s behavior before the shooting incident on September 4, 2024. Colin Gray is accused of giving their son access to a gun. His trial began last week.

Colin Gray faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, 20 counts of child abuse and five counts of reckless conduct.

Their son, Colt Gray, is accused of opening fire at a Georgia high school on September 4, 2024, killing two students, two teachers and wounding nine others. He was charged as an adult with four counts of murder. A date for his trial has not been set.

The victims of this incident were identified as Mason Schermerhorn, 14; Christian Angulo, 14; Richard Aspinwall, 39; and Cristina Irimie, 53.

Marcee Gray said she moved out of the house she shared with her other two children, Jenny and Colee, in 2022, but Colin and Colt stayed. In the summer of 2023, Colt came to live with her, she said.

He described his son’s behavior as frightening, and “very different” from the son he left with his father.

“He had a lot of anger inside, and he was very aggressive and unpredictable,” Marcee Gray said. “So much so that I ended up moving her little sister across town to live at my parents’ house because I didn’t want to leave her there alone with her. Also, her little brother never left my side.”

He said Colt destroyed flat screen TVs in the house, broke windows, carved things with knives and wrote things on the walls. These incidents led Marcee Gray’s father to contact the police twice, which eventually led to Colt moving back in with his father.

Marcee Gray said Colin Gray accused her of calling the police about their son and she confirmed to Colt that she had done so.

“I was trying to get him arrested, you know, arrested,” Marcee Gray said in court Monday. “And when he convinced him of that, Colt refused to talk to me, he wanted to go back with his father.”

Marcee Gray said she arranged a counseling session for her son which he never attended, she testified that Colin Gray did not register their son for the eighth grade when he moved in with her.

Not long after, Marcee Gray, who had an open case with the Department of Human Services at the Department of Family & Children Services, failed a drug test and two other children were also sent to live with their father, he said.

“I was dealing with the fact that Jenny and Colee were living with their father in the house, where things were bad. And there was nothing I could do about it,” he said.

Colin Gray’s trial began last week, with the prosecution saying his actions led to the 2024 shooting, while defense lawyers argued there was no way he knew his son would cause harm.

On Tuesday, 14 students from Apalachee High School stood up and spoke about the day of the incident. Nautica Watson recalled losing consciousness after being shot in the leg, and worrying about dying and how it would affect her parents.

Another student, William Cariker, sent a series of text messages to eight of his loved ones when the shooter was at his classroom door.

“There is a school shooting if I don’t make it, I love you all,” Cariker wrote.