A woman whose son is accused Shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia Earlier this month, he was accused of tying his elderly mother to a chair, stealing her phone, and damaging her home, according to a local report.
Marcy Gray, 43, whose son Colt Gray allegedly shot and killed two students and two teachers, was charged Monday for allegedly abusing his then-73-year-old mother, Deborah Polhamus, in November, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported, citing an incident report.
Polhamus had been tied to a chair in her Fitzgerald home in Ben Hill County for nearly 24 hours when she was found by a friend of her daughter, Annie Brown, who also lives in Ben Hill County. in FloridaBrown told police she had become concerned about her mother after she was unable to reach her by phone and had asked her friend to check on her.
Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray and father appear in court for separate hearings
Marcy Anne Gray in a 2023 booking photo from the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office. (Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Office)
The incident occurred on November 3, when Marcy asked her mother to accompany her to confront her ex-husband, Colin Gray (Colt Gray’s father).
When she refused, Marcy is accused of tying her mother to a chair, stealing her mother’s iPhone, as well as damaging the bathroom mirror and back door of the elderly woman’s home.
The incident report accuses Marcy of slamming her mother against a wall, causing a cut on her left wrist. Marcy allegedly said that since her mother wasn’t leaving, she was going to tie her to a chair and take her phone away so she couldn’t call anyone.
According to the report, Polhamus suffered a bruised wrist and a concussion, but she told police she “did not want to see Marcy become a lifelong criminal.”
It’s unclear why Marcy was going to confront her ex-husband.
He was arrested in December and released in April after posting a $5,300 bond.
According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Marcy has been charged with multiple counts, including abuse and intimidation of an elderly person, false imprisonment, property damage, and theft.
The suspected attacker has been identified as 14-year-old student Colt Gray. (Barrow County Sheriff’s Office)
she has Lengthy criminal recordThat included drug use and property damage, according to police and court records.
A week after the fatal incident, apologized to the victims’ families In an open letter.
“To the parents and families of those affected by the tragic incident at Apalachee High School, I want to say that I am sincerely sorry,” she wrote in the letter.
“If I had the opportunity to take Mason and Christian’s place, I would do so without a second thought,” she wrote, later adding that her “heart is broken for the two teachers who gave their lives in service to teaching and protecting our children.”
Colt Gray shot a total of 11 people and injured two others in the Sept. 4 shooting.
He was able to conceal a semiautomatic AR-15-style rifle in his backpack and bring it to school. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has confirmed this.
Colt asked his teacher if he could go into the front office and talk to someone, and then walked out of his classroom. The teacher let him go and allowed him to take his belongings with him.
“He then went to the toilet, where he hid from the teachers and later allegedly took out a rifle and opened fire, killing two students and two teachers.”
The victims were identified as Richard Aspinwall, 39, Christina Irimi, 53, and Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14.
In an interview with ABC News, Marcy said she called the school counselor the morning of the shooting to alert authorities to a disturbing message she had received from her son.
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Collin Gray, 54, the father of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, 14, enters the Barrow County Courthouse for his first appearance on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Winder, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brin Anderson)
She said the last message she received from her son was, “Forgive me, mother” and his father also received similar messages – “Forgive me” and “You are not to blame for this.”
Colt has been charged with four counts felony murder More charges are expected.
His father, Collin, 54, is accused of “knowingly allowing” his son to have the weapon used in the attack, police said. He has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Authorities have said Gray’s father, Colin Gray, gave Colt access to the rifle used in the shooting. He is the first parent of a school shooting suspect in Georgia to be charged.
Fox News’ Molly Markowitz contributed to this report.
