Mom of suspect in Georgia school shooting indicted and is accused of taping a parent to a chair

FITZGERALD, Ga. (AP) — The mother of a Georgia teenager charged with fatally shooting four people at his high school has been indicted in connection with an alleged domestic incident last year.

The indictment handed down Monday charges Marcee Gray, 43, with exploiting an elderly person and other crimes in Ben Hill County, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. It appears unrelated to the school shootings at Apalachee High School, which occurred in a different Georgia county nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) away.

Gray is the mother of 14-year-old Colt Gray, who was charged with murder after surrendering to police at the high school on Sept. 4. Authorities say the boy brought an assault-style rifle to school in his backpack and opened fire during morning classes, killing two students and two teachers and injuring nine others.

The indictment charging Marcee Gray stems from a domestic incident late last year, the Atlanta newspaper reported. It said a police incident report states Gray’s 74-year-old mother told authorities Nov. 4 that Gray had taken her phone, taped her to a chair and left her for nearly a full day.

The incident report said Gray bound her mother before traveling to Barrow County to confront her ex-husband, who lived with their son and two other children. The Atlanta newspaper said records show Gray was arrested in Barrow County on Nov. 6, two days after her mother was found and was sentenced to 45 days in jail after pleading guilty to charges of criminal trespassing, using a license plate to disguise her car and causing property damage.

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Messages left Saturday at possible phone numbers for Gray were not immediately returned. It was not immediately known if she had an attorney.

Gray has said she called her son’s high school the morning of the shootings to warn the staff after Colt Gray sent her a text message saying, “I’m sorry.” Days later, she issued a statement saying her son “is not a monster.”

The teenager’s father, Colin Gray, has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Authorities say he gave his son access to the rifle used in the shootings.