Alleged Georgia school shooter Colt Gray’s raging grandfather has called for the death penalty of the 14-year-old’s father, Colin Gray, for his role in the tragedy. Charles Polhamus, Colt’s maternal grandfather, believes Colin must bear much of the blame for the massacre at Apalachee High School in Winder on September 4, which left two students and two teachers dead.
“Spending 11 years with that son of a bit** screaming and hollering every day — it can affect anybody,” Charles, 81, told New York Post of Colin, his 54-year-old former son-in-law.
“He’s evil,” Charles added, saying of the family, “They couldn’t, they didn’t survive in it.”
Colin was married to Charles’ daughter, Marcee Gray. They share three children.
“Colt has to pay for what he did, but I’m telling you, he was driven, no question in my mind,” Charles said. “He was driven by his father to do what he did. That’s as plain as I can put it, and I know I’m right.”
“[Colin Gray] got what he deserved, too,” he added.
Colin is facing two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the school shooting, and the charges push the legal limits of parental responsibility for the alleged gun crime committed by a child. The charges include four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children. Each count against Colt’s dad accuses him of “providing a firearm to Colt Gray with knowledge he was a threat to himself and others,” his Barrow County arrest warrant affidavit shows, according to CNN.
Colin gave Colt an AR-15-style rifle for Christmas. The teen used the same weapon to cause the bloodshed at the school.
“He needs the death penalty,” Charles said of Colin.
‘Prior to going through this, he was a good kid’
Previously, Marcee accused Colin of abuse. Marcee’s record, however, is not clean either. Sources told the Daily Mail that she once “threatened to kill her husband.” Marcee reportedly even “tied up” her elderly mother once, leaving her for 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Colt will reportedly be charged with murder as an adult.
“Colt is like a lot of young kids these days with the tablets and some of the garbage they pull up, the blood and all the fighting,” Charles said. “If you don’t think that has an impact on young kids, you’re missing the boat, and that was also part of Colt’s problem.
“It’s part of it — and living with a dysfunctional dad who was a screamer and a hollerer,” he added. “No question about it. Prior to going through this, he was a good kid. I will preach that forever.”
Charles also accused Colin of squandering the family’s finances and ending up losing their “half million dollar farm” because of drug addiction following a back injury he suffered. He added that his daughter Marcee was also pulled into addiction.
“She is a good person and a mom,” Charles said. “But I’m back to what I said about narcissists: They can change anybody.”
“Marcee never did anything to Colt,” he added. “All she did is help him out.”
Neighbours, however, had a different take on Marcee. A former neighbour claimed that she would often lock Colt and his sister out of the house at night. “And they would be banging on the back door, just screaming like, ‘Mom! Mom! Mom!’ and crying. It was absolutely devastating,” the woman said.
At the time of the shooting, however, Colt lived with his father. Marcee recently broke her silence on the tragedy, saying, “It’s absolutely horrible.”
