By James Myers, OAN Staff
Friday, September 6, 2024, 8:25 a.m.
Georgia high school shooting suspect Colt Gray made his first court appearance on Friday, followed shortly by his father. Gray is accused of brutally killing two students and two teachers at the school.
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The 14-year-old shooter, dressed in a green prison uniform and handcuffed, appeared in Barrow County Court for a brief bail hearing after being charged as an adult with four counts of murder in Wednesday's horrific killing spree at Apalachee High School.
As Gray sat in the courtroom with his face hidden, the judge told him he could face the death penalty if convicted.
“I want you to know the maximum sentence for felony murder, which means that for each of the charges, the maximum sentence could be the death penalty, life in prison without parole or life in prison with the possibility of parole,” Judge Curry Mingledorf II told Gray at the initial hearing.
The suspect did not plead guilty and was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs at the wrists and ankles after his lawyer refused to grant him bail.
However, Judge Mingledorf II quickly called Gray back to court and reversed his own sentence, informing him that because he was under 18, he was not eligible for the death penalty and could instead receive life in prison.
The father, Collin Gray, 54, appeared in the same courtroom minutes later, charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of manslaughter and eight counts of child abuse, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
“As for the murder charges… the maximum sentence for each offence is 30 years' imprisonment,” the judge said. “As for the manslaughter charges… the maximum sentence for each offence is 10 years' imprisonment.”
“For the eight felony counts of child abuse, the statutory maximum sentence for each is 10 years in prison, making the maximum total sentence for the charges you currently face 180 years in prison,” the judge concluded.
Aggrieved family members of at least one of the victims sat in the front row of the courtroom during both hearings, and at one point were seen crying and clutching stuffed toys.
Meanwhile, the teen is accused of opening fire at a high school in Winder, Georgia, on Wednesday morning, killing four people and wounding nine.
The father's preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 4, as is the son's.Number.
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