The mother of school shooter Colt Gray had threatened to kill him less than a year before he shot dead four people at Apalachee High School in Georgia, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Marcee Gray, 43, has a criminal record spanning more than 17 years and was in jail in April, court records show.
The former quality engineer was arrested in November in Barrow County on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, fentanyl and muscle relaxants.
He also faced charges of aggravated assault, larceny, criminal trespass, false imprisonment and failure to appear in January in nearby Fitzgerald County.
Sources told DailyMail.com that the mother of three “threatened to kill her husband and eldest son” during one of the incidents.
He also “tied up” his elderly mother and abandoned her for 24 hours, saying he would kill 14-year-old Colt “specifically to get revenge” on his mother.
Marcee Gray, the mother of school shooter Colt Gray, had threatened to kill him less than a year before he shot and killed four people at his Georgia high school. The mother is pictured with her son Colt Gray and her ex-husband Colin Gray in 2011.
Marcee, 43, has a criminal record spanning four Georgia counties, including drug abuse, domestic violence and property damage, as well as civil fraud claims.
It’s unclear exactly what triggered the spiral, but Marcee Gray had previously posted online about “what substance abuse can do” to a family.
Over the years, she had made several disturbing posts on Facebook, sharing her struggles with her ex-husband Colin Gray, whom she accused of abuse.
In November 2022, Marcee Gray wrote: ‘From my husband’s earliest memory, all he knew was abuse. Severe physical abuse (I mean everything from having his arm broken at 8 years old while he was totally asleep to having his skull cracked by a bar stool… I still rub my fingers along the scar/cut on my scalp and think, “How?! I can’t even comprehend it!”… that’s what substance abuse can do. To a mom, a dad, a spouse, a sibling… you name it, it will get to them.’
That same day, Marcee said in another post: ‘I know it’s hard to understand from the outside. No one in my family and yours could understand why I stayed so long. Ultimately, it was my own decision…
Gray had made several disturbing posts on Facebook over the years, sharing her struggles with her ex-husband Colin Gray, whom she accused of abuse.
“I made a commitment to the Lord and to my husband. No one but me understands the pain my husband goes through every day. Every person in his life has hurt him or betrayed him… And I truly believe the Lord sent me to him because no one else was strong enough to stand by him through thick and thin. I’m not ready to give up on him now… We’re just taking a break.”
The following month, Marcee wrote on LinkedIn: ‘I finally separated from my abusive husband of almost 14 years… It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but we are in good hands.’
In May 2023, she posted: “I packed my bags with my babies and moved back to my hometown in South Georgia. We are all doing well and my kids are thriving.”
That same month, police contacted Colin Gray after receiving a tip from the FBI that Colt Gray had threatened to shoot up his school on the Discord platform.
Speaking to police at the time, Colin Gray said he had recently separated from the mother of his child and that “she took his two younger children with her.”
Marcee Gray pleaded guilty in December 2023 to one count of using a license plate to conceal identity, second-degree criminal damage to property, and criminal trespass/family violence.
She was prosecuted under Georgia’s First Offender Law, which allows eligible defendants to plead guilty without being convicted.
Court records indicate she was not actually charged with drug possession in connection with her arrest.
Gray was arrested Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, minutes after authorities said he opened fire on students and teachers, killing four. Colt allegedly told police “I did it” when they read him his Miranda rights.
Georgia school shooter Colt Gray made his first court appearance Friday
An arrest warrant obtained by DailyMail.com states that Gray had a glass jar containing methamphetamine, a “baggie” containing fentanyl, another “baggie” containing multiple muscle relaxants and a glass pipe “used for the ingestion of narcotics.”
He also concealed the identity of his Nissan Rogue by placing a Nissan Kick license plate on it, the warrant states.
Court documents show she was sentenced to five years in prison, with the first 46 days to be spent in solitary confinement and the remainder on probation.
A condition of her probation barred her from having contact with her husband except through a third party for matters involving their children or divorce. She was also ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution and participate in a family violence intervention program and stay away from drugs and alcohol.
Court records also showed he had misdemeanor traffic offenses in 2019, 2014, 2008 and 2007.
Previous charges included driving under the influence of alcohol, and he was fined $600, sentenced to 12 months probation and ordered to complete 40 hours of community service.
His father, Colin Gray, 54, is accused of buying his 14-year-old son Colt the AR-15-style rifle the boy used and was arrested Thursday on multiple counts of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children.
Speaking to police last year, Colin Gray said he had recently separated from the mother of his child and that “she took his two younger children with her”.
In 2019, Gray was also sued by Nash Chevrolet Company, which claimed she had purchased a 2018 Chevrolet Suburban in September 2018 using a $10,000 check as a down payment. The check, which had Gray and her husband’s names on it, was “dishonored due to insufficient funds.”
In February 2020, Gray was ordered to pay the dealership just over $19,000, reflecting the money initially owed on the vehicle, as well as interest, attorney fees and punitive damages.
His 14-year-old son has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder. His father, Colin, has also been charged in connection with the killings after he reportedly told police he bought the gun used in the massacre as a Christmas present for his son.
Gray is accused of shooting two of his classmates and two teachers at the school on Wednesday morning, while nine other people were taken to hospital with injuries.
He is said to have had an obsession with other infamous school shooters, such as Parkland, Florida killer Nikolas Cruz.
When police searched the teen’s Georgia home after the bloodbath, they reportedly found clues that the teen was “obsessed” with mass shootings, specifically the 2018 Parkland massacre that left 17 people dead.
Gray was known to the FBI after they received several tips about him last year.
On December 21, Gray was sentenced to five years in prison and banned from having any contact with Colt’s father, Colin, and ordered to pay $1,500 to an Atlanta construction company in restitution.
In May 2023, Jackson County deputies questioned Gray and his father about a Discord channel believed to be linked to the 13-year-old that allegedly made threats about a school shooting.
The Discord account had a username written in Russian, and the translation of the letters spelled out the name Lanza, a reference to Adam Lanza, the perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, officials said.
The teenager denied being the author of the threats and told police he had closed his Discord account after being repeatedly hacked. He expressed concern that someone might make such accusations about him.
Gray’s father, Colin, told investigators at the time that his son “knows the severity of guns and what they can do, and how to use them and not use them.”
Colin reportedly told officers he would be “really upset” if he found out the allegations about his son’s threats were true and that “all the guns would be gone.”
The report also stated that officers were unable to corroborate the information contained in the notice to take further action.
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