Father Seeks Retrial After Son's School Shooting Conviction

Colin Gray is currently serving a fifteen-year sentence at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, a maximum-security facility between Atlanta and Macon that also holds the state's death row. He requested a new trial less than one week after being convicted of second-degree murder for the deaths of 14-year-olds Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, as well as involuntary manslaughter for teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. All four victims died during his son Colt Gray's attack on Apalachee High School in September 2024.

The motion filed Wednesday in Barrow County Superior Court argues the conviction is "decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence." Attorneys claim the verdict lacks support and violates principles of justice. They say Colin missed signs his son was spiraling mentally before gifting him a semiautomatic rifle and ammunition for Christmas.

Prosecutors pointed out Colt spent time in true crime circles where he openly discussed an obsession with mass shooters. His mother, Colin's ex-wife, had asked him to lock up all weapons at home before the tragedy. Defense attorney Brian Hobbs argued the teenager hid how deep his involvement went online. He also suggested Colt seemed like a normal kid who loved video games and hiking trails with his dad until that fateful day.

Colt was just 14 when he pulled the trigger, leaving eight students and one teacher wounded in addition to the four fatalities. His father claims the boy accelerated the attack because Colin tried to force him into mental health treatment. Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith rejected this defense. He insisted Colin was guilty for what he knew and ignored a substantial risk. Investigator Jason Smith agreed, noting the danger of handing over the exact tool needed for a mass shooting at a school.

Judge Nicholas Primm struggled with sentencing Colin because he had no prior criminal record and did not intend to commit a crime. The judge called it a divisive case where Colin failed as a parent by ignoring foreseeable harm. He told Colin directly that securing the firearms could have prevented the deadly outcome. Both Crumbleys were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for their son's monstrosity, setting a precedent that Colin now breaks by seeking relief so soon after incarceration began.

Colin is the first parent in the United States to serve time for murder committed by their child during a mass shooting. The impact on communities remains profound as four lives are lost and countless others traumatized. Prosecutors emphasize he is responsible for those deaths, the injuries sustained by seven survivors, and the life sentence just handed down to his 16-year-old son.

Ethan got life without parole. So did Colt. Now it is Colin Gray's turn, and his lawyers are digging into a very specific legal angle. They claim the teenager actively hid how deep he went into online mass shooting communities. His father, they argue, could not have known his son would become so deadly.

Judge Nicholas Primm made it clear last week that this case has split people apart. It is divisive. Now the appeal rests on a narrow question: how does Georgia law handle these charges? Under state statutes, second-degree murder is defined as causing a child's death by committing cruelty to children. An attorney not connected to the case told Fox 5 Atlanta that a conviction usually demands direct physical harm.

'This statute says that in order to be guilty, the person must physically do cruelty to a child when the child dies,' the lawyer explained. 'Colin Gray didn't do anything to anyone at that school.' The situation involves murder charges, so the appeal moves up to the Georgia Supreme Court for a formal ruling. We have reached out to the Barrow County District Attorney's Office and Colin's legal team for comment. What happens next could change how communities view responsibility in digital spaces.