A Georgia judge has scheduled a combined plea and sentencing hearing later this month for a teenager facing charges in connection with a deadly shooting at Apalachee High School that left four people dead.
Colt Gray, now 16, had previously entered a not guilty plea to charges that include murder, stemming from the September 2024 attack at the high school located northeast of Atlanta. The shooting claimed the lives of two students and two teachers and left several others injured.
According to a court filing made Friday, the judge handling the case set a “Non-Negotiated Plea and Sentencing Hearing” to get underway on July 24. The judge had previously indicated that if Gray intended to change his plea to guilty before trial, he would need to notify both the state and the court by this coming Wednesday.
A non-negotiated plea differs from a traditional plea deal in an important way: rather than the defense and prosecution agreeing on a sentence in advance, the judge retains full authority over sentencing. Both sides are given the opportunity to present a summary of the case and offer a sentencing recommendation before the judge makes a final decision.
An email sent Sunday to Gray’s attorney seeking comment was not returned.
Gray’s trial had originally been scheduled to begin in mid-October in Columbia County, roughly 100 miles from Barrow County where the shooting took place. The judge approved a defense request to move the trial to a different venue.
Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was found guilty by a jury in March on charges that included second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors argued that he provided his teenage son with the assault-style rifle used in the school attack. The elder Gray is also awaiting sentencing later this month.
The shooting on September 4, 2024, took the lives of teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, along with students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14 years old. An additional teacher and eight students were wounded, with seven of those struck by gunfire. Colt Gray was 14 at the time of the shooting and was charged as an adult, facing a total of 55 counts including murder, cruelty to children, and 25 counts of aggravated assault.
Investigators testified that Gray brought the rifle onto the school bus with the barrel concealed inside a rolled-up piece of poster board. He reportedly slipped out of his second-period class and came out of a bathroom armed with the weapon, firing on people in both a classroom and a hallway.
Authorities described the attack as carefully premeditated. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent testified that Gray left behind a notebook in his classroom containing step-by-step instructions and a diagram outlining his plan, including an estimate that he could kill up to 26 people and wound as many as 13 others. The school had an enrollment of approximately 1,900 students.
Both Colt and Colin Gray had been interviewed by sheriff’s deputies in May 2023 regarding an online threat connected to Colt Gray, who denied making the threat at that time. Colt Gray skipped eighth grade, enrolled as a freshman at Apalachee after the school year had already started, and subsequently missed multiple days of school.
Family members had reportedly been trying to get psychological help for Colt Gray prior to the shooting, though it appears he never actually met with a counselor.
Colt’s mother, Marcee Gray, who was separated from Colin Gray at the time, told investigators she had confronted Colin Gray weeks before the shooting, urging him to lock up his firearms and limit Colt’s access to them. Records show that instead, Colin Gray purchased ammunition, a gun sight, and other shooting accessories for the boy over time.
Prosecutors also said that Colt Gray had created a shrine in his bedroom dedicated to Nikolas Cruz, the gunman responsible for the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
