(GPB News) – The trial of Colin Gray, the father of the suspected Apalachee High School shooter, will begin on Monday, after a days-long jury selection process in neighboring Hall County.
Prosecutors have charged Gray with 29 counts, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and multiple second-degree counts of cruelty to children.
They’ll argue that Gray’s providing a rifle to his son was negligent, leading to the deaths of two students and two faculty at Apalachee High School.
If convicted, it would be the first time in state history that a parent would be found liable for providing a weapon used in a school shooting, mirroring the conviction of Jennifer and James Crumbley in Michigan.
Both prosecutors and Gray’s attorneys agreed to choose from a pool of jurors in Hall County, citing concerns that a jury of residents of Barrow County, site of the killings, would bring in their own biases about the case.
Kay Levine is a professor of law at Emory University. She said it’s not unusual to see this happen in cases that get a lot of public attention.
“Lots of people who live in the community heard about it and they heard some details that were being reported in the press,” she said. “They may have heard some side commentary about the people who were involved, and prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the judge need to make sure that the only evidence that the jurors are going to hear is the evidence that is produced in court.”
The alleged shooter, Colt Gray, last appeared in court in December, represented by a new defense attorney. That attorney told Chief Judge Nicholas Primm that a mental evaluation is still ongoing for Gray, and its findings would be ready by mid-March.
Last May, Gray’s previous attorney told the court he’d likely be ready to plead guilty after the evaluation was concluded.
