The father of a teenager accused in the deadly mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia was granted bond Tuesday.
Colin Gray appeared in Barrow County Superior Court, where the judge granted him a $500,000 bond — half the amount sought by prosecutors.
Gray was last in court in September. He didn’t join his lawyers in November when they entered a not-guilty plea and waived his arraignment.
Prosecutors say Gray allegedly bought the gun that his son, 14-year-old Colt Gray, is accused of using in the shooting at Apalachee High School and that he also later bought his son a tactical vest and ammunition.
Both father and son are facing dozens of charges, including murder.
One of several families who gave a victim statement asking the judge not to set bond for Colin Gray is Breanna Schermerhorn — the mother of student Mason Schermerhorn, who was killed in the shooting. She said Colin Gray had been “irresponsible as a parent” and “robbed” her family of the chance to raise her son.
Another student and two teachers were also killed in the shooting and several others injured.
Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm said he understood the “undeniable pain” that the families were going through, but that the law did not allow him to be emotional.
Primm said he was allowing Colin Gray to be released from jail because of a lack of evidence that he would flee, pose a danger to the community, intimidate witnesses or commit a felony if he made bail, but that he did have grave concerns about him returning to court to stand for trial.
“This is not the typical case,” Primm said. “In an ordinary case, a defendant’s given the bond, he makes the bond, he returns to the community, essentially unnoticed by anyone. That’s not what would happen here. This case is an open sore. It’s a wound that continues to hurt the community.”
“So weighing all of these considerations,” he continued, “I believe that it is, one, required to give a bond, but, two, given the extraordinary nature of the case and the other factors, that it needs to be a high bond.”
Primm ordered 10% of the $500,000 to be paid in cash and no contact with witnesses.
Meanwhile, the teen’s attorneys and prosecutors recently agreed to delay his jury trial planned for later this month, because “the case is not ready to be tried,” according to a court filing.
A new date has not been set, but the teen’s defense team is slated to have a status conference in May.
