Georgia school shooting suspect may be gearing up for guilty plea

He didn‘t speak during the hearing, simply acknowledging Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm’s instructions.

Primm agreed to a request to schedule a plea hearing for Gray in October, finding that the later date would reduce impact on the trial against Gray’s father, Colin Gray, which is set to start in September.

“It makes sense to do the plea after, if it is in fact a plea,” Primm told attorneys.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Colt Gray’s attorney Alfonso Kraft told Primm that he was hoping to get a psychologist to evaluate the teen by the end of the month, and will need at least an additional month and a half to get a report.

“We are still doing some investigatory work on our behalf and, then we have a psychologist that is going to visit him at the end of this month,” Kraft said.

District Attorney Brad Smith said discovery for both cases is expected to be given to defense counsel at the same time, so there shouldn‘t be any issues with that.

Prosecutors said they intended to seek a non-negotiated plea, which would leave the judge to decide what the sentence should be.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Defense attorney Suri Chadha Jimenez, a former prosecutor who isn‘t involved in the Gray case, told the AJC that scheduling a plea hearing is a way to indicate that everything else is done in the case and you’re ready to tie things up.

“It’s a pretty standard way of saying the case is going to be resolved, just give us a date,” Chadha Jimenez said.

Former Gwinnet County District Attorney Danny Porter told the AJC it’s reasonable to schedule a plea for after the father’s trial, because a guilty plea sort of “presupposes the father’s guilt.”

Colin Gray remains in jail even though he was granted a $500,000 bond by Primm in February. The bond was to be paid in cash, and the judge ordered Gray to have no contact with witnesses.

Colin Gray is facing 29 charges, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, five counts of reckless conduct and 20 counts of child cruelty after prosecutors say he knowingly allowed his son, Colt Gray, to possess a gun. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Last month, Primm ruled that Colin Gray won‘t face a Barrow County jury but hasn‘t ruled where the trial will take place.

Porter said Colt Gray could plead any time, which would open the door for him to testify against his father during trial. Chadha Jimenez said that a plea before the September trial would not be beneficial for prosecutors.

He said prosecutors likely want the son‘s plea to come after the father’s trial so Colt Gray can‘t use his plea to exonerate Colin Gray.

“If (Colt) pleads before, he then could say, ‘Oh my dad never did anything, he didn‘t know anything, I’m going to save my dad.’ And then they can‘t do nothing to him,” Chadha Jimenez said.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled it is unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life without parole, except in rare cases. The death penalty against minors has also been deemed unconstitutional.

However, Georgia leads the nation in doling out the harsh sentence on juveniles. The state has sentenced 31 young people to life without parole since 2012, when the Supreme Court restricted life without parole sentences against juveniles, the AJC reported.

A bill was introduced last year in Georgia to ban life without parole sentences for juveniles, but it did not pass.

Chadha Jimenez said prosecutors usually are able to get around any issues by adding years to other charges.

Porter said Gray could be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, since he is facing four murder charges for the deaths of two students — Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn — and two teachers — Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall.

Colt Gray was taken into custody and booked into jail the day after the shooting. Colt Gray was indicted on 55 charges including felony murder, malice murder, aggravated battery, cruelty to children in the first degree and aggravated assault. He pleaded not guilty, waived arraignment and did not appear in court in October.

During a preliminary hearing in October, prosecutors alleged that Colt Gray planned out the deadly attack in a notebook and had a fascination with previous school shooters, a fact prosecutors says was known by his parents.

An investigation revealed Colt Gray brought the gun into the school inside his book bag, prosecutors said. The backpack could not conceal the full weapon so Gray used a rolled up poster board to cover the rest, which investigators said made it appear like he was simply transporting a school project.

Family members of the victims of the shooting were in the courtroom on Tuesday and expressed conflicting views about the potential plea.

“If he wants to plead guilty it would be a better route for everybody, get it behind us,” Kevin Zink, Aspinwall’s father-in law, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “I’d like to see it end. The sooner it ends, the better for all of us.”

Richard Aspinwall Sr., Ricky’s father, said he might favor a trial to make an example of Gray.

“Maybe it’ll make other people think twice about trying to pull something.” Aspinwall told the AP.