Georgia teen gets life without parole for 2024 school shooting that killed four
A Georgia judge sentenced 16-year-old Colt Gray to life without the possibility of parole for the September 2024 attack at Apalachee High School that killed two students and two teachers, rejecting arguments he could someday be rehabilitated.
Sentencing
On Tuesday, Judge Nicholas Primm of Barrow County Superior Court sentenced 16-year-old Colt Gray to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the September 4, 2024, attack at Apalachee High School. Gray had pleaded guilty to 55 counts, including four murder charges, the previous Friday. The minimum penalty would have been life with parole eligibility, but the judge chose the harshest option after days of testimony from victims' families, investigators and a forensic psychologist.
You do not seem to be tormented by what you did. You seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize. It was deliberate, contemplated evil.
Defense attorney W. Charlton Allen argued that Gray was "not irretrievably broken" and that hope of parole would give him an incentive to change. The judge was not persuaded.
The shooting and its victims
On the day of the shooting, Gray, then 14, concealed an AR-style rifle inside a poster board and brought it to the school in Winder, Georgia. He killed students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Nine others were wounded, eight of them students and one a teacher. The school lies roughly 45 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Motive and jailhouse calls
Prosecutors portrayed a teenager driven by a desire for notoriety. Investigator Ashley Gilleland testified that Gray was part of an online "true crime community" that idolized previous mass shooters and chatted about gaining fame through a school attack. After his arrest, Gray repeatedly called his mother Marcee Gray from a youth detention center, directing her to search for online reactions and "fan art" of him. He laughed and said he was "in the big leagues... and not in a bad way." The calls so alarmed officials that Marcee Gray was later barred from speaking with him. District Attorney Brad Smith told the court the attack was one step in a plan for "ultimate and lifelong fame" and that Gray "cannot be in society."
Father's conviction and upcoming sentencing
Colt Gray's father, Colin Gray, was convicted in March on 27 charges including second-degree murder for providing the rifle his son used. Prosecutors said he gave the weapon as a Christmas gift despite warning signs such as a shrine to school shooter Nikolas Cruz. The conviction of a parent in connection with a school shooting is rare in the United States. Colin Gray's sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, July 30.
- Colt Gray, 14, kills two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., injuring nine others.
- Colin Gray, the shooter's father, is convicted on 27 charges including second-degree murder for providing the rifle.
- Colt Gray pleads guilty to all 55 charges, including four counts of murder.
- Judge Nicholas Primm sentences Colt Gray to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
- Scheduled sentencing for father Colin Gray.
Victim impact
Family members described enduring grief. Shayna Aspinwall, the wife of teacher Richard Aspinwall, told the court of her family's ongoing pain.
It is a life sentence of grief and trauma for those left behind.
Mason Schermerhorn's mother, Breanna, said her son made a point of befriending bullied students and would likely have approached Gray. Nearly all victims who spoke at the hearing urged the judge to deny any chance of parole.
