A teenage boy who carried out a mass shooting at his Georgia high school, killing two college students and two academics, was sentenced to life without parole, with the choose calling his actions “deliberate, contemplated evil.”
Colt Gray, 16, confronted a sentence of life with or without parole after pleading guilty to all 55 counts towards him, together with homicide and aggravated assault.
Judge Nicholas Primm handed down the sentence on Tuesday in Barrow County after taking up an hour to deliberate following closing arguments, throughout which prosecutors mentioned the teenager idolized different mass shooters and wished infamy.
“You wrote, ‘I want to make history. I want people to remember the pain I caused,’ and there you succeeded,” Primm mentioned. “The pain that you visited upon this community is unlikely to disappear in my lifetime.”
The choose continued, “You do not seem to be tormented by what you did. You seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize, you aren’t wracked with guilt. You’re proud of yourself.”
Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Pool by way of AP – PHOTO: Colt Gray, the 16-year-old Apalachee High School shooting suspect, is led in by deputies for his sentencing at Barrow County Superior Court, on July 27, 2026, in Winder, Ga.
Primm mentioned Gray “studied and obsessed” over different mass shootings and was nicely conscious of their outcomes in courtroom — life without parole. He mentioned Tuesday’s sentence doesn’t convey pleasure, however closure.
“The slain will not return to life, the injured will not forget their wounds, and a 16-year-old — a 16-year-old boy — will live and die in prison,” Primm mentioned.
Gray was 14 years outdated in September 2024 when he opened fireplace at Apalachee High School, killing two students and two teachers and injuring a number of others. He pleaded responsible final Friday without negotiating a plea deal.
The state requested for life without parole, arguing that Gray dedicated the shooting not as a result of he was struggling any “emotional breakdown,” however as a result of he wished “eternal fame” throughout the True Crime Community and took calculated steps as a part of that objective.
“I think it’s become abundantly clear through the state’s presentation of evidence that the ultimate goal of all of his actions and his underlying motive was to be famous. Famous not in the sense that we adults think of fame, but specifically famous and popular within this subculture community known as the TCC,” District Attorney Brad Smith mentioned throughout his closing argument on Tuesday.
Smith acknowledged that Gray had a “bad childhood,” however argued that does not excuse his actions. The district legal professional mentioned they haven’t seen proof that Gray has “any ability to ever value human life” and that the teenager “cannot be in society.”
“He’s the only one in the history of Georgia who has ever taken an assault rifle into a public school and opened fire on perfect strangers, simply so he could be famous,” Smith mentioned.
Teen Colt Gray pleads guilty to committing mass shooting at his Georgia high school
The protection, in the meantime, mentioned Gray “spared the community” a trial by admitting his guilt. He targeted on the teenager’s upbringing, arguing that his dad and mom left him with no stability or ethical grounding.
“Most importantly, they did not give him proper psychological and mental health care when they saw him deteriorating, when they saw him drawing into himself, when they saw him disappearing into his room,” protection legal professional Charlton Allen mentioned throughout his closing argument. “What did they do? They spent their time in their own worlds on drugs, buying guns, and splitting up, and coming back together, and splitting up and changing schools and giving absolutely no stability.”
Allen requested the choose for life with parole and to give the teenager an “opportunity of hope.”
“Colt was at an extremely vulnerable time in his life when he didn’t get what he needed at a very young age, and that certainly doesn’t mean that once we give him what he needs now going forward, he can’t be made a productive member of society,” Allen mentioned.
Barrow County School District – PHOTO: Christian Angulo, Mason Schermerhorn, Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie all died at the Apalachee High School shooting in Winder, Georgia, Sept. 4, 2024.
The sentence was handed down following three days of testimony, together with a number of sufferer impression statements throughout which a number of relations of those killed in the shooting requested for the utmost potential sentence.
Shayna Aspinwall, whose husband, 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall, was killed, informed the choose that parole hearings could be “continued torture” for her household.
Ismael Angulo, whose brother, 14-year-old Christian Angulo, was killed, described “every day as a nightmare” whereas asking the choose to sentence Gray to life without the potential of parole.
Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Cristina Irimie, 53, have been additionally killed within the shooting.
What we know about the 4 victims killed in Apalachee High School shooting
A forensic psychologist who evaluated Gray following the shooting testified throughout the sentencing listening to this week that the teenager’s upbringing was “pretty chaotic” and lonely and that the teenager was “kind of obsessed” with different school shooters.
An investigator with the Barrow County District Attorney’s Office testified that Gray had a “shrine” on his bed room wall to Nikolas Cruz, the shooter within the Parkland high school bloodbath, and that he copycatted Cruz and different mass school shooters within the Apalachee school shooting. In jail calls with his mom that have been performed in courtroom on Tuesday, Gray mentioned his personal notoriety within the weeks following the Apalachee shooting, the investigator mentioned.
Jessica Mcgowan/Getty Images – PHOTO: The entrance signal of Apalachee High School adorned with flowers from guests on September 5, 2024 in Winder, Georgia.
Gray declined to deal with the courtroom forward of sentencing.
The teen’s grandmother, Deborah Polhamus, testified that she believed his dad and mom failed him, and that with continued remedy he might be a productive particular person.
“He had convinced himself that this was the way for him to go because he could be somebody,” she mentioned. “All he ever wanted was to have a friend. All he ever wanted was to be included and loved.”
Gray carried out the shooting with a rifle his father, Colin Gray, gifted him as a Christmas current, officers mentioned. This March, Colin Gray was convicted of charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
