Mother of Georgia school shooting suspect indicted, accused of tying parent to chair

FITZGERALD, Ga. — The mother of a Georgia teenager accused of fatally shooting four people at his high school has been charged in connection with an alleged domestic incident last year.

The indictment returned Monday charges Marcee Gray, 43, with exploitation of an elderly person and other crimes in Ben Hill County, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. It appears that the charge is unrelated to the shooting at Apalachee High School in another Georgia county about 200 miles away.

Gray is the mother of 14-year-old Colt Gray, who was charged with murder after turning himself in to police at the high school on Sept. 4. Authorities say the boy brought an assault rifle to school in his backpack and opened fire during morning classes, killing two students and two teachers and wounding nine others.

The charge against Marcee Gray stems from a domestic incident that occurred late last year, the Atlanta Journal reported. According to the police incident report, Gray’s 74-year-old mother told authorities on Nov. 4 that Gray took her phone, tied her to a chair and abandoned her for nearly an entire day.

The incident report said Gray tied up her mother before driving to Barrow County to confront her ex-husband, who lived with their son and two other children. The Atlanta newspaper said the documents show Gray was arrested in Barrow County on Nov. 6, two days after her mother was found, and was sentenced to 45 days in jail after pleading guilty to criminal trespassing, using a license plate to conceal her car and criminal damage to property.

Messages left Saturday at possible phone numbers for Gray were not immediately answered. It was not immediately known whether she has an attorney.

Gray said she called her son’s high school the morning of the shooting to alert staff after Colt Gray texted her, saying, “I’m sorry.” Days later, she released a statement saying her son “is not a monster.”

The teen’s father, Colin Gray, has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child cruelty. Authorities say he gave his son access to the rifle used in the shooting.