@meghannmcuniff: A lawyer representing a Georgia man on trial for his alleged role in his son's deadly shooting spree at a high school told a jury this morning that the man couldn't have foreseen that his son would do what he did. Brian Hobbs told a jury in his opening statement Colin Gray "was doing everything" to help his son Colt. "Colin is the one that filled out the counseling referral forms. Colin is the one that communicated with the school counselor. Colin is the one who discussed the evaluation," Hobbs said today (Monday, February 16). "The father was not ignoring the problem. Colin Gray was acting. They want you to hold him responsible, because they don't think he was acting fast enough." Hobbs said jurors will see texts between Colt and his mother, Marcee, in which Colt tells her "prior to this shooting that he created a Securus online profile that he was using by making up a fake age to try and get in contact with Nikolas Cruz in prison down in Florida," referring to the man imprisoned for murdering 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. "He will text her that he had emailed Nikolas Cruz a couple times, and he'd even put money on his commissary. Marcee's response is to ask him where he got the money, and he tells Marcee in a text message, 'I told Dad it was to buy a video game on Steam,' to which Marcee responds with a laughing out loud emoji," Hobbs said. "Marcee knew that he had this interest in Nikolas Cruz, but she did not share it with Colin," Hobbs said. Hobbs said even with everything Marcee knew, she didn't foresee her son's violence, either. Even she, with the information that he did not have, did not believe there was an imminent threat, and did not believe that Colt would harm anyone else," Hobbs said. "She didn't call law enforcement. She didn't seek an emergency mental health evaluation. You'll hear evidence that after the shooting, her conduct is inconsistent with what she tells the police. You'll hear evidence that even after the fact, she's still trying to assist him in contacting school shooters, in amplifying his profile across true crime community websites." Two students and two teachers were killed in the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4, 2024. Eight students and one teacher were injured. The victims were Mason Schermerhorn, 14; Christian Angulo, 14; Richard Aspinwall, 39 and a math teacher and defensive coordinator for the school's football team; and Cristina Irimie, 53 and a math teacher. Colt Gray is awaiting trial on 55 charges, including counts of murder and aggravated assault. His father's charges include involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and cruelty to children. Prosecutors say he gave his son the gun used in the shooting, despite being told by law enforcement to restrict his access to guns. You can watch some of Barrow County District Attorney J. Bradley Smith’s opening statement here @Meghann Cuniff. #law #crime #court #lawyer #school

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Tuesday 17 February 2026 05:21:23 GMT