Appalachee High School shooter Colt Gray was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a guilty plea on Friday. The teenager idolized mass murderers and carried out the shooting using an assault-style rifle his father gifted him for Christmas, killing two 14-year-old students and two teachers.

Murder Charges

On September 4, 2024, at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, then 14-year-old Colt Gray opened fire on an unsuspecting student body. While everyone present is forever traumatized by the incident, eight students were injured, and a few lost their lives–teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo.

Gray was charged as an adult on 55 counts, including murder, to which he pleaded guilty on Friday, July 24, 2026, without reaching a deal with prosecutors. He left his fate in the hands of the presiding judge to determine whether he would receive a second chance at life.

Sentencing Hearing

Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm showed no mercy when handing down the defendant’s sentence. “You do not seem to be tormented by what you did; you seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize,” Primm told a smiling Gray. “You aren’t racked with guilt. You’re proud of yourself.”

“There’s no joy here,” Primm added. “It’s only a measure of closure.” 

“The slain will not return to life. The injured will not forget their wounds, and a 16-year-old, 16-year-old boy will live and die in prison.”

With the judge’s final words, announcing the sentence, gasps were heard around the courtroom. Gray looked towards his grandmother, Debbie Polhamus, before being escorted out in handcuffs. He declined a chance to speak at his sentencing.

“Four lives were stolen, two of whom were only just beginning,” Primm said. “And it wasn’t done out of fear or anger. You weren’t being bullied at Apalachee. It wasn’t done out of hatred — you didn’t even know anybody at that school. It was done for the infamy of it.”

Prosecutors said that the defendant had an unhealthy obsession with mass killers, and that he sounded delighted on the phone with his mother while in jail talking about the attention he received from committing such a heinous crime.

Victim Impact Statements

Loved ones of the deceased victims were given a chance to speak in court on Friday, and in doing so, urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence on Gray. “It is a life sentence of grief and trauma for those left behind,” Aspinwall’s wife, Shayna, told the court.

Shayna said that their daughters, now 4 and 7, will be “forever marked by his absence.”

The mother of Mason, Breanna Schermerhorn, said it was Gray’s decision to open fire on his fellow students and teachers. She acknowledged his upbringing and the failure of the adults in his life, but “Those decisions were his and his alone,” she said.

School Shooting Precedent

Judge Primm imposed the same sentence on Gray as the mass murderer he idolized–Nikolas Cruz, who was sentenced in 2022 for the shooting at a Florida high school where 14 students and 3 staff members died.

“Your plan was not hastily hatched,” Primm said. “It was a slow boil, simmering one in a year’s time. You savored the thought of it. You visualized it, and you fantasized about it.”

“The thought of mimicking these other mass murderers is what brought you joy,” Primm said.

Obsession With Mass Murderers

Gray’s defense hired a psychologist who spoke at the sentencing hearing on Monday. Kevin Richards described the defendant as a “lonely, dysfunctional kid” who had a “chaotic” childhood. “I thought he was kind of an odd kid,” he said.

Gray’s parents supposedly abused drugs, fought often, and were struggling financially. They would move around often, and there were times when Gray was not enrolled in school. To deal with his childhood situation, he took to true crime and became obsessed with school shootings.

Investigators discovered a shrine to Cruz in Gray’s bedroom, and found that he was obsessed with several other gunmen, such as the 1999 Columbine shooter and 2012 Sandy Hook shooter. Gray was “kind of obsessed” with those murderers, Richards said.

Colin Gray Convicted of Murder

Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was also previously convicted in March on second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges for his part in the mass shooting. He had gifted his son the murder weapon for Christmas, bought him ammunition, and other gun accessories.

Colin had also ignored multiple warning signs, dating back to 2023, to get his son mental health treatment. Gray’s mother, Marcee Gray, was separated from them at the time of the shooting, but allegedly urged her ex to get their son help.

Colin Gray is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, July 30, 2026.