The 14-year-old suspect in a shooting that killed four people at a Georgia high school and his father will stay in custody after back-to-back court hearings Friday morning where their lawyers declined to seek bail.
At Colt Gray's hearing, the teen was advised of his rights along with the charges and penalties he faced for the shooting at the school where he was a student.
After the hearing, he was escorted out in shackles at the wrists and ankles in khaki pants and a green shirt. The judge then called Colt Gray back to the courtroom to correct an earlier misstatement that his crimes could be punishable by death. Because he’s a juvenile, the maximum penalty he would face is life without parole. The judge also set another hearing for Dec. 4.
Shortly afterward, his father, Colin Gray, was brought into court. Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting for letting his son possess a weapon. Nine people were also hurt in Wednesday’s attack at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta.
Colin Gray, dressed in a gray-striped jail uniform at Friday's hearing, answered questions in a barely audible croak, giving his age and saying he finished 11th grade, earning a high school equivalency diploma.
About 50 onlookers were in the courtroom for the hearings, in addition to members of the media and sheriff’s deputies. Some family members of victims in the front row hugged each other and one woman clutched a stuffed animal. Before the hearings at the Barrow County courthouse, workers set out boxes of tissue along courtroom benches.
