The mother of one of the students killed in the 2024 Apalachee High School has slammed the decision not to prosecute the gunman’s mother, Marcee Gray, after previously unheard jailhouse conversations between her and her son were played in court, CNN reported.
Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son Mason Schermerhorn was among the four people killed in the in Winder, Georgia, spoke out during the sentencing proceedings. “She should be in jail now,” she said quietly but firmly while seated in the courtroom with other victims’ relatives.
Her remarks echoed calls made after Colt Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was charged in a separate landmark case for purchasing the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack.
Prosecutors say Marcee Gray cannot be linked legally to the killings
Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said authorities had previously considered charging Marcee Gray but concluded there was no legal basis to do so.
“At the end of the day, she did not have custody of Colt, she did not have proximity to Colt, and she was not the one that provided him the firearms,” Smith said earlier this year.
After Colt Gray was sentenced on Tuesday to life without parole plus an additional 20 years, Smith repeated that no criminal charges would be brought against his mother. Two days later, Colin Gray was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while his lawyer announced plans to appeal.
“She took some steps – not many – but some steps to actually have the firearms removed, or ask the father to do that,” Smith was quoted as saying by CNN. “So we don’t believe we have the ability under the proximate cause (law) of Georgia to charge her with what happened at Apalachee.”
Jail calls reveal discussions about mass shooters
Marcee Gray had previously lost custody of her children following allegations of drug abuse and child neglect.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors played recordings of jailhouse conversations between Marcee and Colt Gray that had not been released publicly before.
In the calls, the pair discussed drawings shared online that portrayed Colt alongside other mass shooters.
“I’m printing out, like, all of these pictures, because seriously, they are extremely cute,” Marcee Gray told her son while referring to images posted in what prosecutors described as the True Crime Community.
As Colt asked her to bring him certain pictures, Marcee appeared aware they could raise concerns at the youth detention centre.
“Just looking for any other ones that would not set off the alarm bells,” she said.
Stephen Baker, a counsellor at the detention facility, later confirmed that juvenile inmates are not allowed to possess photographs of school shooters.
When asked whether trying to bring less obvious images into the facility would amount to bypassing the rules, Baker replied, “It would be.”
In another call, Marcee mentioned a drawing showing Colt alongside the Columbine shooters and Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz in the style of a Weezer album cover.
“It’s really awesome!” she said.
“Oh, wow, I need that printed out and brung up here,” Colt responded.
Marcee Gray says she wanted to keep communication open
In text messages to CNN, Marcee Gray said she did not initially understand the nature of the Reddit and Discord pages her son wanted her to view and insisted her only aim was to maintain contact with him.
“My tone and enunciation during many of these calls could be described as enthusiastic, encouraging, and animated. It should go without saying that in an even semi-normal parent-child relationship, I would immediately address the extreme inappropriateness of the subject, as well as having him speak to a mental health professional about his extreme interest in mass shootings,” she wrote.
“This situation was as far from normal as humanly possible. I was simply doing whatever I could to keep the line of communication open and keep my son alive. I am beyond remorseful for the pain I caused everyone through my actions and will spend the rest of my life in heartbreaking regret for so, so many things.”
According to Baker, once the Department of Juvenile Justice discovered the nature of the conversations and materials being shared, it ended communication between Marcee and Colt. The state later terminated her parental rights and placed Colt in foster care while he remained in custody.
Marcee Gray told CNN that everything she brought to the detention centre had been screened.
Legal expert says comments were not criminal
John Acevedo, professor of practice and associate dean at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, said Marcee Gray’s actions after her son’s arrest could not be linked legally to the school shooting.
“Beforehand, you can be charged with encouraging someone to commit the crime or with aiding them, but she made these comments well after he was in prison,” Acevedo said.
“They’re definitely distasteful, but not criminal.”
