—
Colt Gray, the 16-year-old accused of carrying out a deadly mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia that left four people dead and nine injured, is set to appear in court on Friday for a plea and sentencing hearing that could mark a dramatic shift in his case.
The teenager is scheduled to appear at Barrow County Courthouse at 9 a.m. for what court documents describe as a “non-negotiated plea and sentencing hearing,” a development that indicates he intends to change his previous not guilty plea. The hearing is expected to continue into the following week as both prosecutors and the defense will present sentencing arguments to the judge, who will ultimately determine Gray’s sentence. The court is also expected to hear from victims’ families before a sentence is imposed.
Gray was 14 years old when he opened fire inside Apalachee High School in Winder on September 4, 2024, in what prosecutors say lasted just 41 seconds. The shooting killed two students and two teachers. The victims were identified as students Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14, and math teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Aspinwall was also the football team’s defensive coordinator. Nine other people, including another teacher and eight students, were wounded in the attack, with seven of them hit by gunfire.
Investigators said Gray carried the assault-style rifle to school hidden in his backpack, wrapped in a poster board. On the morning of the shooting, school officials and resource officers even attempted to intercept him after receiving warnings, but in a confusing mix-up, they stopped another student who happened to share Gray’s last name. Gray left his algebra class, went into a student restroom, and emerged carrying the weapon before opening fire in a nearby classroom and hallways.
Gray has been charged as an adult with 55 counts, including four counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, 25 counts of aggravated assault, four counts of aggravated battery, and 18 counts of first-degree cruelty to children. He faces up to 180 years in prison. A significant legal question in the case will likely be whether Gray receives a life sentence without the possibility of parole or if he could eventually be eligible for parole. As a juvenile, he cannot be sentenced to death.
This hearing comes just days after Judge Nicholas Primm granted a change of venue, moving Gray’s trial from Barrow County to Columbia County, where jury selection had been scheduled to begin in October. The plea hearing will prevent that trial from moving forward, as prosecutors indicated they would accept a non-negotiated plea, meaning they would not recommend a specific sentence but would allow the judge to determine punishment.
Gray’s attorneys indicated in late 2025 that he was negotiating a potential plea deal, and the judge set a deadline for him to notify the court of his intention to change his plea. Gray has remained in custody at a juvenile detention center since his arrest.
Investigators have described a deeply troubling picture of Gray’s state of mind leading up to the shooting. They said he left a notebook in his classroom with step-by-step instructions and a diagram to prepare for the assault, including an estimate that he could kill as many as 26 people and wound as many as 13 others. Prosecutors also alleged that Gray created what they described as a “shrine” to Nikolas Cruz, the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooter, with photographs and news articles posted on a wall in his bedroom. He reportedly had an obsessive interest in school shootings and other mass violence.
Family members had been seeking psychological help for Gray before the shooting, but he never saw a counselor. His mother, Marcee Gray, told investigators she had argued with Colin Gray, the boy’s father, weeks before the shooting, asking him to secure his guns and restrict Colt’s access to them. Instead, Colin Gray bought the boy ammunition, gun sights and other shooting accessories. Court records show Colt Gray had made an alarming online search for “how to kill your dad” in sixth grade and had drawn Nazi symbols.
Gray was also interviewed by the FBI about online threats he had made through a Discord account in May 2023, when he was 13 years old. At that time, he denied making the threats. The FBI found concerning usernames in Russian that spelled out references to Adam Lanza, who carried out the 2018 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
The case has also drawn significant attention because of the prosecution of Gray’s father, Colin Gray, who was convicted in March on 27 charges, including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, 18 counts of cruelty to children, and five counts of reckless conduct. Gray is believed to be the first adult charged in Georgia in connection with a school shooting. Prosecutors argued that Colin Gray purchased the AR-style rifle used in the shooting as a Christmas gift in 2023 and left it unsecured, despite knowing his son posed a danger. Colin Gray’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 30.
The Apalachee shooting marked one of the deadliest school shootings in the United States since a 2023 massacre at the Covenant School in Nashville that left six people dead.