The father of a 14-year-old boy accused of killing four people at Apalachee High School will not be tried by jurors from the county where the shooting occurred.
Prosecutors and lawyers for the father, Colin Gray, reached the agreement during a Thursday court hearing. Gray’s attorney requested a change of venue from Barrow County, citing concerns that publicity surrounding the case may have biased local jurors.
Prosecutors agreed that a local jury would not be appropriate, given the emotional impact the shooting has had on the community northeast of Atlanta.
Now, the question is whether jurors from another north Georgia county will be brought in—as prosecutors proposed—or whether the trial will be moved hundreds of miles away, possibly to south Georgia. The pretrial judge has not yet made a decision.
Colin Gray is the first adult known to be charged in connection with a school shooting in Georgia. His indictment reflects a growing trend of prosecutors holding parents accountable for their children’s actions in school shootings.
In Michigan, Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first parents in the U.S. to be convicted in a mass school shooting. They were each sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to secure a firearm and ignoring warning signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health before he killed four students in 2021.
