Apalachee school shooting: Why Colt Gray's mother will not face charges?
The mother of one of the students killed in the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting has slammed the decision not to prosecute the gunman's mother
The mother of one of the students killed in the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting has slammed the decision not to prosecute the gunman's mother, Marcee Gray, after previously unheard jailhouse conversations between her and her son were played in court, CNN reported. Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son Mason Schermerhorn was among the four people killed in the shooting in Winder, Georgia, spoke out during the sentencing proceedings. “She should be in jail now,” she said quietly but firmly while seated in the courtroom with other victims' relatives. Her remarks echoed calls made after Colt Gray's father, Colin Gray, was charged in a separate landmark case for purchasing the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack. Prosecutors say Marcee Gray cannot be linked legally to the killings Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said authorities had previously considered charging Marcee Gray but concluded there was no legal basis to do so. “At the end of the day, she did not have custody of Colt, she did not have proximity to Colt, and she was not the one that provided him the firearms,” Smith said earlier this year. After Colt Gray was sentenced on Tuesday to life without parole plus an additional 20 years, Smith repeated that no criminal charges would be brought against his mother.
Two days later, Colin Gray was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while his lawyer announced plans to appeal. “She took some steps – not many – but some steps to actually have the firearms removed, or ask the father to do that,” Smith was quoted as saying by CNN. “So we don’t believe we have the ability under the proximate cause (law) of Georgia to charge her with what happened at Apalachee.” Jail calls reveal discussions about mass shooters Marcee Gray had previously lost custody of her children following allegations of drug abuse and child neglect. During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors played recordings of jailhouse conversations between Marcee and Colt Gray that had not been released publicly before. In the calls, the pair discussed drawings shared online that portrayed Colt alongside other mass shooters. “I’m printing out, like, all of these pictures, because seriously, they are extremely cute,” Marcee Gray told her son while referring to images posted in what prosecutors described as the True Crime Community. As Colt asked her to bring him certain pictures, Marcee appeared aware they could raise concerns at the youth detention centre. “Just looking for any other ones that would not set off the alarm bells,” she said.
The BriefWire