(FROM SRN NEWS/AP/97.5 GLORY FM’S KEN STANFORD) – The 14-year-old suspect in this week’s fatal shooting at a Winder high school and his father will both stay in custody following back-to-back court hearings Friday morning where their lawyers declined to seek bail.
At 14-year-old Colt Gray’s hearing, the teen was advised of his rights along with the charges and penalties he faced.
After the hearing, he was escorted out in shackles at the wrists and ankles in khaki pants and a green shirt. He’s being held in the Regional Youth Development Center (RYDC) in Gainesville.
The judge then called Colt Gray back to the courtroom to correct an earlier misstatement that his crimes could be punishable by death. Because he’s a juvenile, the maximum penalty he would face is life without parole. The judge also set another hearing for Dec. 4.
Shortly after Colt Gray’s hearing, his father, Colin Gray, was brought into court. Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting at Apalachee High School. In addition to the four who were killed, nine people were also hurt in Wednesday’s attack.
Colin Gray, dressed in a gray-striped jail uniform at Friday’s hearing, answered questions in a barely audible croak, giving his age and saying he finished 11th grade, earning a high school equivalency diploma.
About 50 onlookers were in the courtroom for the hearings, in addition to news media and sheriff’s deputies. Some family members of victims in the front row hugged each other and one woman clutched a stuffed animal.
Before the hearings at the Barrow County courthouse, court workers set out boxes of tissue along courtroom benches, and relatives and community members began to trickle into the courtroom Friday morning in advance of the hearings for the son and father.
According to arrest warrants obtained by The Associated Press, Colt Gray is accused of using a semiautomatic assault-style rifle to kill two students and two teachers at the school. The father has said he gave his son the used in the shooting as a holiday gift last December.
Colin Gray was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting, including with counts of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said.
“His charges are directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon,” Hosey said.