A judge has set a plea and sentencing hearing for Colt Gray, a teenager accused of killing four people in a September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, was charged as an adult with 55 total counts, including murder, cruelty to children, and 25 counts of aggravated assault.
Background of the Case
Colt Gray had pleaded not guilty to the charges, but a judge has now set a non-negotiated plea and sentencing hearing to begin on July 24. This means that the state and the defense have not reached an agreement on a sentence, and the judge will make a decision after hearing from both sides.
Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was convicted in March on charges including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter for giving his son the semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting. The elder Gray is set to be sentenced later this month.
The September 4, 2024, shooting killed teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of them hit by gunfire.
Investigators found that Colt Gray had carefully planned the shooting, leaving a notebook with step-by-step instructions and a diagram to prepare for the assault. He had also created a shrine in his bedroom to Nikolas Cruz, the shooter in the 2018 massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
