Winder, Georgia – Colt Gray, Georgia school shooting suspect has child-like face Who is accused Murder of two classmates and two teachersShe grew up in a run-down and neglected home, where police and child services visited regularly, a former neighbor and landlord told the Post.
His mother, Marcy, 43, has a lengthy criminal record on drug and domestic violence charges. And his father, Collin, 54, has been arrested and charged with drug and domestic violence offenses. Bought an AR-15 rifle for his troubled son for Christmas – And now he also stands accused of supplying the weapon used in the shooting.
Lauren Vickers, who lived next door to the Grays in Jefferson, Georgia, said there were “immediate problems” when the Grays and their three children moved to the well-maintained neighborhood 60 miles east of Atlanta in 2022.
“There were nights when mom would lock her and her sister out of the house. And they would bang on the back door, just screaming, 'Mom! Mom! Mom!' and crying. It was absolutely devastating,” she said.
Vickers said sometimes the youngest child would come into their backyard asking for food.
“No clean clothes, I'm not exaggerating.”
“It was constant abuse. It's very, very sad,” he said.
14 year old colt He was charged as an adult on Thursday Four murder charges have been filed following Wednesday's shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder.
He is expected to appear in court on Friday.
Annie Brown, Colt's aunt, told The Washington Post that her nephew had struggled with mental health problems, and had been “begging everyone around him for help” for months before the massacre.
“The adults around him let him down,” he said.
His mother Marcy, who attended Georgia Southern University and listed her occupation on LinkedIn as “quality engineer” for a local manufacturer, also has a lengthy criminal history spanning 17 years and four Georgia counties, According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He faces a variety of traffic violation charges, including domestic violence, drug possession, property damage and driving under the influence. He also faces civil fraud charges in connection with the purchase of a used vehicle and was most recently busted in Ben Hill County in April.
According to his social media accounts and neighbors, he later left his family home.
According to Vickers, Colt's father, Collin, works in construction.
None of the parents responded to the Post’s request for comment.
Jackson County Sheriff's Office Grays visits the Jefferson home in May 2023 The action was taken based on an FBI report that said Colt had threatened to shoot up his middle school on Discord, a messaging app popular among gamers.
However, the case was shelved a few days later after police were unable to confirm key details of the FBI's investigation.
Collin told police he kept several hunting rifles in the home, which he admitted Colt sometimes had the opportunity to use while unsupervised. Officers urged him to keep the firearms locked away and advised he keep Colt out of school “until this matter is resolved,” but the school had already closed for the year.
Law enforcement sources told the Post that in December 2023 — despite the police visit — Collin bought Colt an AR-style assault rifle for Christmas.
The same weapon was used in Wednesday's shooting.
Neighbour Vickers said although the family lived next door, it was the mother who got most of the attention.
“I would find her in the driveway early in the morning passed out, the car running and music playing,” Vickers said, talking about Marcy — who she claims was a habitual drug and alcohol abuser.
“She would take the little one to daycare or pre-K. She was driving him like that,” she said of Gray's younger brother.
She said Colt didn't speak much, but she often saw him running away from school and wandering into the woods and nearby dirt houses.
When asked to characterize Colt, Vickers said, “He wasn't a bully or a mean kid. He didn't say much. He was very quiet,” she said, adding that he was a classmate of her daughter Berlin.
Although she called child services several times, Vickers said, “They came, talked to me, and did nothing.”
A former landlord of the Grays, who asked that his name not be used, described Marcy as “a no-fuck up” while crediting the father as “trying his best to be an honest man.”
“She was locking them outside, even in bad weather. It was very cold weather,” he said, confirming Vickers' statement.
He said he stopped by Collin's house to talk to him when neighbors started complaining.
“Neighbors reported that (Marcie) was intoxicated and driving her car down the street, the car door was open and the engine was running, and she fell out of the car. As a landlord, I cannot tolerate that type of behavior in a neighborhood where a tenant could endanger other children,” he said.
“I spoke to the husband and asked him, ‘Did you know your kids were kicked out of the house?'”
The landlord said Collin had told him Marcy was struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and that the couple was headed for divorce.
They then reported it to Georgia's Division of Family and Child Services and removed him from the lease, leaving Collin on his own until he left of his own free will.
“I think the guy really went through it. I can't imagine he wouldn't have sought help for these kids because they were so traumatized,” the homeowner said.
He added that although he never spoke to Colt, he felt like he “really wanted to be with his dad.”
When asked about the shooting at Apalachee High School, the homeowner said, “I never for one minute thought that was going to happen. There's no way to predict that,” he said.
“All I can say is that this child has failed to get the help from the social networks that we should have to help these children,” he said.
