On July 30, Colin Gray, father of Colt Gray, who killed four people in a 2024 school shooting, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, marking the third time a parent has been prosecuted for a murder committed by a child in their care.

The sentence, which comes after the similar prosecution of Jennifer and James Crumbley of Michigan, reinforces a growing legal precedent of holding parents criminally responsible when their negligence contributes to a minor child perpetrating such an act.

Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm, who delivered the sentence, conveyed this clearly, acknowledging from the bench that Mr. Gray had no criminal history and did not intend to commit a crime. Still, he acknowledged that the defendant ignored glaring warning signs, including his son’s history of violent episodes and threatening social media posts, even permitting him to keep a firearm in his room.

“It became more and more obvious that something bad was going to happen,” said the judge. “At a minimum, you should have believed that Colt would commit suicide. And you failed to do the simplest things to prevent this.”

As a family-focused mental health attorney, I find the judge’s words particularly poignant, because proactive preventive measures are indeed crucial in these situations. As a first step, parents must eliminate their child’s access to weapons, and then reach out to qualified professionals to recommend potential legal avenues, including:

• Psychiatric intervention: Distinct from those featured in movies and TV shows, psychiatric interventions bring together a specialized team of practitioners, along with concerned family members, to address someone’s escalating mental health issues. With a mental health attorney, psychiatrist, case manager, and often security personnel, loved ones can best ensure an individual in crisis, who lacks the capacity to understand their condition, receives the help they require.
• Hospitalization: An individual can be hospitalized voluntarily or involuntarily if an episode occurs in which the individual poses a substantial risk of harm to self and/or others. Psychiatric hospitalization allows for a psychiatrist and/or other mental health professional to evaluate any potential medical and mental health issues, establish a diagnosis, and recommend a treatment plan.
• Mental health warrant: The process of obtaining a mental health warrant involves petitioning the court to issue a civil warrant to bring the individual, with appointed counsel, to court for a hearing. Here, the court determines if he/she currently poses a danger to self or others and should be remanded to a psychiatric emergency room for immediate evaluation and possible admission for treatment.

Of course, a family’s options change considerably once a child turns 18 years old and is considered an adult in the eyes of the law. This milestone—or its approach—should prompt family members to consider the items above and then explore additional measures, including:

• Guardianship or conservatorship: This proceeding authorizes the court to appoint and oversee a legal decision-maker for another adult, who, due to incapacity, disability, or “functional limitations,” is unable to manage his/her own affairs.
• Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT): This court-ordered treatment for an adult’s mental illness and supervision in the community aims to prevent “a relapse or deterioration,” as well as the “revolving door” we often see in these cases.
• Advance directives: Legal advance directive documents, executed while the individual has the requisite mental capacity, contain an individual’s prior expressed wishes regarding medical treatment or financial affairs. They include such documents as health care proxies and powers of attorney.
• HIPAA and state-specific release forms: Filling out the proper authorization allows treatment providers to release otherwise confidential information pertaining to patients/clients to family members or other designated individuals. This makes it possible for families to speak with treatment teams and best understand diagnoses and medical or psychiatric treatment records, as well as actively participate in discharge planning.

These options, part of a mental health toolkit, might not be well known among families, but they should be top of mind for mental health practitioners as well as educators, law enforcement, EMTs, and other professionals who are increasingly serving as first responders for those experiencing mental health crises. Greater awareness can go a long way toward helping to prevent such tragedies and the terrible consequences they inflict on individuals and communities.