Father of Georgia school massacre suspect charged – will more parents be held accountable?

Murder charges against the father of a 14-year-old boy blamed for a Georgia school shooting follow the successful prosecution of two parents in Michigan. James and Jennifer Crumbley were blamed for a similar tragedy at a school north of Detroit.

According to arrest warrants, Colin Gray gave his son a gun despite knowing he was a threat. Could public outrage lead to more prosecutions of parents or law changes elsewhere?

Experts say it depends on the individual circumstances of each case. Most states have laws that hold people liable for gross negligence in various situations.

Murder charges against the father of a 14-year-old boy blamed for a Georgia school shooting follow the successful prosecution of two parents in Michigan blamed for a similar tragedy at a school north of Detroit.

Is this a sign of tougher action against parents who are accused of gross negligence in dealing with children and weapons? Could public outrage lead to more prosecutions or changes in laws in other states as well?

“It’s about looking at the relationship between what the child says and does and what the parents know about what the child says and does,” said David Shapiro, a former prosecutor who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

Colin Gray, 54, was charged with manslaughter and first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta. Nine other people were injured.

Gray’s son, Colt Gray, is charged with murder. Investigators say he used an “AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle” in the attack.

The charges against Colin Gray “are directly related to his son’s actions and permission to possess a gun,” said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Milestone in Michigan

James and Jennifer Crumbley were convicted of manslaughter earlier this year for the deaths of four Oxford High School students in 2021, the first time parents have been held criminally responsible for a U.S. school shooting. They are serving 10-year prison sentences while appeals are pending.

The Crumbleys did not know what their son, Ethan Crumbley, was planning. But prosecutor Karen McDonald said her son’s actions were predictable. They were summoned to discuss the 15-year-old’s macabre drawings, which showed a gun and blood on a math problem, as well as a message: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me. My life is useless.”

The Crumbleys refused to take him home but said they would seek counseling. That same day, Ethan Crumbley pulled a gun out of his backpack and began shooting. He used a gun that James Crumbley had bought as a gift just days before. No one – not parents or school staff – had checked the backpack.

The parents’ “acts and omissions were inextricably linked” to what their son ultimately did at Oxford, the Michigan Court of Appeals said in 2023 when the landmark case was admitted.

The Georgia case

District Attorney Brad Smith declined to publicly disclose the details that led him to charge Colin Gray in the Apalachee shooting, but authorities said in arrest warrants that he gave his son a gun “despite knowing he posed a danger to himself and others.”

Smith mentioned the Michigan case during a press conference on Friday, saying his was the first in Georgia.

“I don’t want to send a message,” he said. “I just want to use the tools at my disposal to prosecute people for the crimes they commit.”

Colin Gray was interviewed last year when authorities were investigating his son over a threatening social media post. The father said the teenager “knew the seriousness of guns and what they can do and how to use and not use them,” according to a transcript. No further inquiries were made.

McDonald, the Michigan prosecutor, said the Georgia shooting and the father’s arrest were a “real punch in the gut.”

“I can’t believe that the facts that have been so egregious in our case seem to be so similar,” she told the Associated Press.

More control for parents?

McDonald said there are laws in place across states that provide consequences for gross negligence in various situations. She said it was encouraging that police in Georgia immediately investigated how the gun was obtained.

“I never felt like this was a moment that would open the floodgates for charges against parents or send a message to people,” McDonald said of the Crumbley case. “Most people don’t need that message. It’s heartbreaking to see this play out.”

She said it only takes seconds to lock a gun and demonstrated this to a jury.

Shapiro, the former New Jersey prosecutor, said all states probably have laws that could hold parents accountable, but much depends on the facts and the prosecutor’s view.

“Parents must not be allowed to overlook such signs that something is seriously wrong or that there is a serious danger,” he said.

In Michigan, a new law came into force this year that requires adults to lock up their guns when minors are present. In Newaygo County, a grandfather pleaded no contest in August in the death of his five-year-old grandson. Another boy had picked up a loaded shotgun and fired it.

“If people would just lock up their guns, we wouldn’t have to put parents behind bars for this,” said Kris Brown, president of Brady, a gun violence prevention organization. “And we wouldn’t be digging so many graves.”