Georgia school shooting suspect wants trial moved out of Barrow County

His father, Colin Gray, filed a similar motion last week.

Attorneys for Colt Gray say the teen has received a tremendous amount of news coverage, and his former neighbors and his mother have been interviewed.

“Prospective jurors have already received an extraordinary amount of information about the case, whether factual or not, whether admissible under the rules of evidence or not,” the attorneys said.

Colt Gray’s attorneys also argue that moving the case to another county would “save Barrow County the money and time it would have spent trying to impanel an impartial jury from a biased jury pool.”

In the motion filed last week, attorneys for Colin Gray said Barrow County is a community where a feeling is “strongly set against him” and argued that a change of venue was necessary to not violate his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.

Unlike his father’s motion, Colt Gray’s does not mention the four fatal victims of the shooting.

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC

Colin Gray’s attorney argued that the victims were “well-known citizens” for Barrow County with high public visibility. The victims of the Sept. 4 shooting include two students — Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn — and two teachers — Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall — who died, and many others who were injured.

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 November.

Colin Gray was taking into custody in September and was later indicted on 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 to possess a gun.

Additional details of the deadliest school shooting in Georgia’s history were revealed during a preliminary hearing in October including that Colt Gray planned out the deadly attack in a notebook and had a fascination with previous school shooters, a fact known by his parents.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

An investigation revealed Colt Gray brought the gun into the school inside his book bag. 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.

The prosecution of Colin Gray is believed to be the first of its kind in Georgia and only the second nationally, after the parents of a Michigan school shooter were convicted of involuntary manslaughter. In both cases, the parents were accused of ignoring warning signs that their children could be capable of violence and allowing the children access to guns.

Colin Gray continues to be held at the Barrow County Jail. Last month, Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm granted Colin Gray a $500,000 bond and ordered 10% to be paid in cash and no contact with witnesses. Prosecutors had asked for a bond of more than $1 million.

Gray is expected to live with his sister in Cherokee County if he makes bail. A hearing on Colin Gray’s motion to change venues is scheduled for April 17.

No bond or motions hearing has been scheduled for Colt Gray, but a scheduling status conference is set to take place May 6.