The mother of the teen accused of killing four people at his Georgia high school last week has reportedly released a letter apologizing to the victims’ families and defending her son as “not a monster.”
“To the parents and families of those affected by the tragic events at Apalachee High School, I want to say that I am deeply sorry,” Marcee Gray wrote. CNN review of the letter Wednesday.
Gray said if she could, she would “without a second thought” switch places with the two students who were killed, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. She added that her “heart breaks” for the two teachers, Cristina Irimie , 52, and Richard Aspinwall, 39, who were also killed.
“We are all in a living nightmare right now, and personally, I will never forgive myself for what happened,” her letter continued, according to CNN. “My son Colt is not a monster. He is my oldest baby. He is quiet, thoughtful, caring, funny and extremely intelligent. Please pray for him and the rest of our family, as I pray for all of you every moment of every day.”
Gray’s son, 14-year-old Colt Gray, has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder in the Sept. 4 attack. His father — who authorities say knowingly gave his son access to the semi-automatic assault rifle used in the shooting — is also behind bars and facing multiple felony charges.
Marcee Gray has said she tried to warn her son’s school about Colt just minutes before the shooting broke out.
Jessica McGowan via Getty Images
In an interview with ABC newsShe said her son texted ominous warnings to his father and her the morning of the shooting. She said she called her son’s school and urged a school employee to check on him.
“You need to run to the classroom,” she told the school.
Gray said she was told that one of Colt’s teachers had written an email to the school principal earlier that morning, saying Colt had referenced a school shooting.
JS reached out to Gray but did not immediately receive a response.
Colt and his father were investigated by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department last year for similar issues. The teen was accused of posting threats to commit a school shooting on the gaming platform Discord.
When interviewed by officers, Colt denied making any such threats, as evidenced by CCTV footage of the interaction that took place. released this week.
Authorities said they could not definitively link the teen to the threats, which is why he was never charged.