Mother of Georgia school shooting suspect indicted on elder abuse charges, report says

The mother of the 14-year-old Georgia student charged in the Apalachee High School shooting that killed four people has been indicted in a domestic violence case involving her mother in 2023, according to reports.

On Monday, a grand jury indicted Marcee Gray, 43, on charges of exploiting and intimidating a disabled person or elderly adult, false imprisonment, criminal damage to property and theft, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Saturday.

The charges are unrelated to the mass shooting her son, Colt, is accused of committing on Sept. 4 that killed teachers Cristina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Nine other students were injured in the incident.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation also arrested the teen's father, Colin Gray, on Sept. 5, and prosecutors have charged him with two counts of murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of child cruelty.

Marcee Gray could face up to 20 years in jail related to the felony charge of elder exploitation, the newspaper said. USA TODAY could not reach Gray for comment.

The case reportedly stems from Gray trying to have her mother, Deborah Polhamus, now 74, go with her to confront Colin Gray, her ex-husband, on Nov. 3, 2023. According to the newspaper, Polhamus refused to go, and then Gray taped her 73-year-old mother to a chair for nearly a day, taking her cellphone and damaging her home in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

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The next day, on Nov. 4, 2023, a family friend found Polhamus, the newspaper reported. That day, court records show, police in a separate case said Marcee Gray damaged Colin Gray’s work truck in Barrow County, about 3.5 hours away.

Two days later, on Nov. 6, a Barrow County Sheriff's deputy arrested Marcee Gray for allegedly concealing her Nissan Rogue with different tags and having fentanyl, methamphetamine and muscle relaxants, court records show.

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Prosecutors charged her in December with concealing her license plate, damaging property and criminal trespass and family violence. She pleaded guilty, and a local judge sentenced her to five years in jail, with the first 46 days spent in confinement and credit for time she spent from Nov. 6, and the remaining time on probation.

Marcee Gray has reportedly apologized to parents and families affected by the school shooting. The Washington Post reported that Marcee Gray said she alerted the school on the morning of the shooting for an “extreme emergency” and that officials needed to find her son.

Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg and John Bacon, USA TODAY.