Authorities Release More Information On School Shooter’s Broken Home Life

Daily Report September 06,2024

The Post spoke to a former neighbor and landlord who rented every year of Gray’s life except his first, and they painted the picture of Colt growing up in a neglectful home where police officers or child services appeared at least 20 times.

Marcee Gray, 43, the boy’s mother has an extensive criminal record that includes arrests for drugs and domestic violence while husband Colin Gray Sr., 54 is being held accused of providing his son with the AR-15 assault rifle used in the Georgia high school shooting.

Colin is now charged with giving the weapon to him.

A neighbor of the Grays in Jefferson, Georgia who lived next door to them at that time — Lauren Vickers recalled issues with the household from day one when they moved into the neighborhood.

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“There were nights where the mom would lock him and his sister out the house. And they would be banging on the back door, just screaming like ‘Mom! mom! mom!’ and crying. It was absolutely devastating,” she said.

His maternal grandfather, Charles Polhamus, described Colt to CNN as a “good kid” who was living in an unhealthy environment.

“His dad beat up on him, I mean, I’m not talking about physical, but screaming and hollering, and he did the same thing to my daughter,” Charles Polhamus said, adding that the boy did not show any outward anger issues but was affected by his upbringing.

The shooting is now under investigation, and so too are the family’s history with child protective services in Georgia as officials try to piece together what could have led up to such a gruesome scene. Colt has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder and will appear in court Friday.

Vickers — a neighbor who knew the family, described them as “troubled.”

Colt’s mother, Kyla Simoncic told the outlet that Colin had bought Colt an AR-15 rifle for Christmas in December 2023 despite a prior police visit to their home in May 2023 because he allegedly made threats of shooting up his middle school on Discord.

Colt’s aunt, Annie Brown, told the Washington Post her nephew “begged for help from everybody around him” in months before shooting. “Those responsible adults failed him,” she said.

Since the horrific shooting, Apalachee High School has held a prayer vigil for all the fallen and injured students.