Georgia school shooter’s father asked daughter to ‘cover for him,’ teen testifies

(CNN) — The day of his teenage son’s deadly rampage at a Georgia high school, Colin Gray asked his daughter to “cover for him” if investigators questioned her about what he knew leading up to the shooting, the girl testified Tuesday at her father’s murder trial.

Jenni Gray, who was 13 at the time, testified her father specifically asked her to avoid mentioning his knowledge of images and articles of Nikolas Cruz, the imprisoned Florida school shooter, her brother had posted in his bedroom.

Throughout her testimony, Jenni appeared to avoid eye contact with her father, who seemed to lean forward in his chair, listening intently as she calmly took the stand for much of the afternoon.

She recalled her father suggesting what she should tell investigators during an interview after the shooting.

“He told me if they ask me anything about if he knew that Colt had problems, and his problems would lead up to this, that I should basically try to cover for him, and specifically about the pictures on the walls he told me not to tell them that he knew what they were,” the teen recalled her father instructing her.

“Do you mean the pictures of Nikolas Cruz?” prosecutor Alix Daniel asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

At one point, a defense lawyer asked the court to disallow Jenni’s testimony but the judge allowed it to continue, noting she will remain under a subpoena in case she needs to be recalled to the stand.

Jenni testified she now lives with a foster family and has broken all contact with her biological family. She uses a different last name.

“You certainly don’t want to go through life known as the sister of the school shooter,” defense attorney Brian Hobbs asked during cross examination.

“Yes, sir.”

The sister’s testimony and a recording played earlier Tuesday provided key insights about Colin Gray’s actions and knowledge before Colt Gray, then 14, brought an AR-15-style rifle to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and opened fire on September 4, 2024. Four people were killed and nine were injured, before the teen surrendered to police.

Colin Gray has pleaded not guilty to nearly 30 charges, including two counts each of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors allege he allowed Colt Gray access to the firearm despite previous warnings that his son was a danger to others, actions that constitute criminally reckless conduct.

His defense attorney said in opening statements Colin Gray was unaware his son was planning the shooting and had taken steps to try to get him help.

Father says ‘Santa Claus’ bought son a rifle

Earlier Tuesday, jurors heard Colin Gray’s comments during a 1.5-hour interview with Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent Kelsey Ward shortly after the shooting.

The eldest Gray explained to police why he bought the boy an AR-15-style rifle, despite his son’s increasingly aggressive behavior and need for mental health counseling.

Colin Gray said he wanted to get his son Colt into deer hunting as a hobby to help him cope with his tumultuous family life. He said Colt shot a deer in their first outing, leading Colin Gray to believe he had “turned a corner” with his son.

“In my mind, I swear to God, I thought he was gonna be perfect from then on,” he said.

But the rifle Colt was using jammed, so Colin said, “We keep doing good, you’re doing good, maybe Santa Claus will bring you one.”

He then bought his son a rifle as his “big Christmas present” and gave him “the whole speech and everything” about gun safety, he said.

It’s not clear if he will testify in his own defense, so the recording could fill in that gap. While the recording offered key evidence for the prosecution, it also illuminated Colin Gray’s efforts to help his son and keep together a struggling family.

“I’m trying to be the glue that holds this whole family together,” he said.

Colin Gray’s trial is part of a broader push to hold more people accountable for a school shooting, including the shooter’s parents and responding law enforcement officers. This case bears close similarities to the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, whose then-15-year-old son killed four students in 2021 at his high school in Oxford, Michigan.

The trial began last week and has featured emotional testimony from students and teachers who survived the shooting, police interviews with Colin Gray, Colt Gray’s spotty school attendance, photos showing unsecured firearms and ammo in the home and testimony from the teen’s mother and grandmother about their unsettled family life.

Colt Gray has admitted to the shooting, according to authorities. Now 16, he has pleaded not guilty to 55 felony counts, including four counts of malice murder. A trial date has not been set.

Father says son had become more aggressive recently

In his interview with police, Colin Gray said his son’s behavior had escalated and become more aggressive in the last five to seven months.

He said he and Colt had gotten into physical altercations when Colt “bull-rushed” him, and Colin tried to hold him down until he became calm. Colt Gray had also not been attending school and was dealing with bullying, the father said.

He told the GBI interviewer he had been trying to get Colt into counseling to deal with his issues.

“We need to get him to go somewhere, that’s what we’ve been trying to do here for the last week or so,” he said in the recording.

“I know he needs somebody – not to this level, clearly – like, I know he’s like a normal kid and he’s dealing with a bunch of crap,” he added. “I swear to God this is the last thing (I expected) … This was not on my damn radar.”

Colin Gray told police he had given his son a “pep talk” the morning of the shooting to encourage him to go to school, saying he was “super proud” of him, according to the recording.

“There’s nothing we can’t overcome that you already have not overcome. You’ve been through a lot and you’ve done the hard part,” he said.

Colin Gray also proudly told police about his son’s musical talents and ability to take apart and rebuild computers.

He laid out his immediate reaction on the morning of the shooting. He said he received texts from Colt saying “I’m sorry” and “It’s not your fault,” causing him to become concerned.

“I can tell something is wrong,” Colin Gray told police in the interview, saying he initially thought his son had gotten into a fight.

When he heard that there had been a shooting at Apalachee High School, he went home to look for the AR-15-style rifle, which he said Colt Gray had been keeping in his room, he told police. The gun wasn’t there, he said.

“I’m upset and sad but I’m really pissed,” he said to police. “That kid, man. This is just so wrong.”

‘You sound like a great dad,’ investigator says

For the defense, the recording humanized Colin Gray as a working father trying to care for his three children while helping his wife recover from drug and alcohol addiction. He said he did not believe in “old-school” belt-beatings and had created a safe “bubble” for his kids to tell him about their problems without fear.

Toward the end of the recording, Colin Gray appeared to be crying and breathing heavily. Ward, the special agent interviewing him, offered words of personal praise.

“This is not your fault,” she said in the recording. “You sound like a great dad.”

“Apparently not,” Colin Gray said in the recording. “I just know something bad has happened, and I want to apologize to somebody, but I don’t know who.”

As that part of the recording played in court, Colin Gray shook his head and covered his face with his hand.

Ward testified her goal in making that comment was to get him to remain cooperative and maintain a rapport with him. Indeed, after the interview, he agreed to give her access to his phone history, she testified.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Chris Youd and Maxime Tamsett contributed to this report.