Colt Gray guilty plea entered in Georgia school shooting case
Colt Gray pleaded guilty to 55 charges in the Apalachee High School shooting, months after his father was convicted.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
The Colt Gray guilty plea entered in Georgia brings the 16-year-old defendant closer to sentencing for the 2024 Apalachee High School attack that killed four people. Gray admitted guilt to 55 charges, including murder, Al Jazeera and The Associated Press reported.
The plea came months after his father, Colin Gray, was convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the same shooting. Al Jazeera and AP reported that the case has drawn attention to how US prosecutors are examining the role parents may play before school attacks.
What happened in the Apalachee High School shooting?
The shooting took place on September 4, 2024, at Apalachee High School in Georgia, according to Al Jazeera and AP. Prosecutors said Colt Gray used an assault-style rifle that his father had given him when he was 14.
The people killed were two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two teachers, 39-year-old Richard Aspinwall and 53-year-old Cristina Irimie, Al Jazeera and AP reported. Another teacher and eight students were wounded.
Because Gray pleaded guilty to murder, he faces at least life in prison, according to Al Jazeera and AP. His trial had been scheduled to start in mid-October.
Before accepting the plea, Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm questioned Gray to confirm that he understood the consequences and was acting voluntarily, Al Jazeera and AP reported. Gray answered, “Yes, your honour,” to each question.
What did victims’ families say in court?
Breanna Schermerhorn, Mason Schermerhorn’s mother, told the judge she did not forgive Gray, according to Al Jazeera and AP. She said adults around Gray had missed warning signs, but that he bore responsibility for choosing to carry out the attack.
“Those decisions were his and his alone,” she said, according to Al Jazeera and AP. She also told the court that Mason had been denied a future and that his family had been denied a future with him.
During Colin Gray’s trial, investigators testified that he knew about his son’s worsening mental health and volatility but did not follow through on getting him help, Al Jazeera and AP reported. Marcee Gray, Colt Gray’s mother, testified that she had urged Colin Gray to secure his guns and keep their son from accessing them.
Prosecutors also said investigators found a shrine in Colt Gray’s bedroom to Nikolas Cruz, the gunman in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, according to Al Jazeera and AP.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun safety advocacy group, said there have been 64 incidents on school grounds in the US so far this year, including shootings outside school hours. The group said those incidents have left 24 people dead and 32 injured.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.