WINDER, Ga. — A Barrow County judge sentenced Colt Gray to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday, closing out the criminal case against the teenager who opened fire at Apalachee High School in September 2024.
Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm handed down the sentence after three days of testimony from survivors, victims’ families, investigators and mental health experts. Gray, now 16, did not speak before the ruling and showed little visible reaction as it was read.
“Your crimes do reflect permanent incorrigibility,” Primm told him, adding that Gray still seemed to relish rather than regret what he had done. The judge said the sentence brought no satisfaction, only closure, and that Gray would “live and die in prison.”
A plea with no deal attached
Gray pleaded guilty last week to all 55 counts against him, including four counts of malice murder, aggravated assault and cruelty to children. It was what’s known as a non-negotiated plea — prosecutors and the defense had not agreed on a sentence in advance, which left the decision entirely to Primm. Georgia law gave him two options: life with the chance of parole, or life without it.
Prosecutors spent the hearing arguing that Gray had become fixated on other school shooters through an online subculture and was driven by a desire for infamy rather than any grievance against Apalachee High School itself. Defense attorney Charlton Allen countered that a life sentence with the possibility of parole would at least leave open the chance that Gray could eventually change. Primm sided with prosecutors.
The victims
Gray killed two teachers, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Several other people were wounded in the attack, including students and at least one additional staff member. Family members of the victims testified during the hearing, describing the lasting toll on siblings and classmates who returned to the same school building in the aftermath.
Why he wasn’t eligible for execution
Gray was 14 years old on September 4, 2024, when investigators say he carried a semiautomatic rifle onto a school bus and later opened fire in a classroom and hallway. Because he was a minor at the time of the shooting, the U.S. Supreme Court’s restrictions on juvenile sentencing meant the death penalty was never a legal option. That left Primm choosing between the two life-sentence outcomes rather than weighing capital punishment.
His father is sentenced this week too
Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was convicted in March on 27 counts, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, for giving his son the rifle used in the attack despite what prosecutors described as clear warning signs, including materials in the boy’s room referencing past school shooters. His case was among the first in the country to hold a parent criminally responsible for a child’s mass shooting. Colin Gray is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday and faces a maximum of 180 years.
