Georgia school shooting shows parents have some responsibility for their children's crimes

One strength of our legal system is the way it can evolve to meet the moment. Such an evolution seems to be underway now with regard to mass shootings in our schools.

One logical response — to tighten gun laws — has been short-circuited by federal and state legislatures and the Supreme Court, which have been hostile to such changes. So a new prosecution strategy is emerging: When the shooter is a minor, search for evidence to hold the parent responsible, too.

The tactic was tried first in a 2021 Michigan school shooting in which 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley was convicted in the killing of four students. Parents Jennifer and James Crumbley also were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for failing to secure the handgun their son used. The pair was sentenced in April to 10 to 15 years. Now a similar scenario is playing out in Winder, Georgia, where Colt Gray, 14, allegedly killed four people at Apalachee High School. His father, Colin, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter because he "knowingly allowed him to possess the weapon," said Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

These actions recognize that some adults who play prominent roles in the lives of these young, disturbed shooters have some responsibility for what happened. In Colin Gray's case, it is right to question why he would give his son, struggling with mental health issues, a weapon of war as a Christmas present. Shouldn't the father also have ensured the firearm was safely stored so his son could not have access to it without his supervision?

The same theory is being pursued in Michigan by parents of an 18-year-old killed when a 16-year-old friend driving faster than 100 mph lost control and crashed. The victim's parents want charges brought against the driver's mother, who had installed an app on her son's cellphone that shows how fast a car is traveling and knew long before the crash that he repeatedly drove at dangerous speeds. It is logical that she, too, bears responsibility for enabling and allowing her son's reckless behavior.

Charging these adults seems appropriate and certainly helps satisfy the public's demand for justice on behalf of slaughtered young innocents. And criminal prosecutions are the way society establishes norms of behavior and deters others.

But what is necessary is not always sufficient. Parental accountability is important but comes after the crime. Prevention must remain a prime concern. In the Georgia shooting, a safe-storage law for firearms and a red-flag law to allow the removal of guns from a household where someone is a danger would have helped.

So, too, would adult common sense. Warning signs for Colt Gray glowed red for a long time; his father knew he was in trouble. The 16-year-old Michigan driver's mother knew he was a danger, too. Their actions, along with those of their children, led to death. Accountability for those tragedies does not lie with the children alone.