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Colin Gray gets 15
Colin Gray, 55, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Georgia after a jury found him criminally culpable for the September 2024 Apalachee High School shooting carried out by his teenage son, Colt Gray, who pleaded guilty to all 55 counts against him.
“Colin Gray, 55, admitted to providing the assault rifle used by his then-14-year-old son”
Prosecutors said Colin Gray admitted to providing the assault rifle used by his then-14-year-old son in the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School, which killed two students and two teachers.
Judge Nicholas Primm sentenced the father to 15 years confinement for each second-degree murder count, with those and lesser sentences running concurrently for a total 15-year prison sentence.
Primm said the case was “this new phenomenon of parents being charged in conjunction with crimes that their children are committing,” and he told Colin Gray that if he had used gun locks or removed the ammunition from his house, “you wouldn't be here today.”
Warning lights and families
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Nicholas Primm told Colin Gray, “It is clear you failed as a parent,” and he said the law required him to set aside emotion while addressing the families who testified.
Prosecutors argued that Colin Gray ignored warning signs, with Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith saying, “This was the risk he was ignoring, that there would be a mass shooting of children at a school, and he gave his son the exact tool he would need to accomplish this.”
Defense attorney Brian Hobbs asked for 10 years in prison and 10 years of probation, arguing the father misjudged the warning signs and that the question was “what does justice require when a father's negligence and a son's concealed intent meet on a single morning?”
Victims’ families described lasting harm, including Shayna Aspinwall telling the court, “He did not pull the trigger but purchased and left a firearm accessible to a minor,” and Breanna Schermerhorn saying, “This was preventable.”
What comes next
The sentencing followed Colt Gray’s guilty plea to 55 charges and his life sentence without parole, with Judge Nicholas Primm overseeing both sentencing hearings in the same courtroom in Winder, Georgia.
“After this sentencing, Gray could appeal, which would be heard before the Supreme Court of Georgia.”
The case is framed as a test of parental responsibility, with Primm acknowledging in remarks that such cases are “divisive” while also saying Colin Gray could have taken multiple actions to prevent his son’s actions, including “you didn’t get him help, and you didn’t remove his access to the guns.”
After the sentence, defense attorney Brian Hobbs told CNN he plans to appeal the first-of-its-kind conviction, and the Georgia Public Broadcasting report said after this sentencing Gray could appeal, which would be heard before the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Georgia Public Broadcasting also reported that Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said Colin could face as little as time served, or a maximum of 180 years, and that Barrow County students return to school starting this Friday.
