A 16-year-old from Georgia pleaded guilty on Friday to every count in a 55-count indictment related to a 2024 shooting at a high school that left four people dead and nine injured. The plea was entered in Barrow County Superior Court without a negotiated agreement with prosecutors.
The defendant, identified in court filings as Colt Gray, entered the plea before Judge Nicholas Primm. The judge will determine the sentence after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defense as well as statements from victims. Under the charges, the defendant faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
At the time of the attack on September 4, 2024, Gray was a 14-year-old ninth grader at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, a city of about 18,000 located roughly 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Prosecutors say he brought an assault-style rifle to the school concealed inside a roll of poster board.
The shooting resulted in the deaths of two students, Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, both 14, and two teachers, Cristina Irimie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 39. Nine other people were injured. Following the incident, prosecutors charged Gray as an adult in the case.
Separately, the defendant's father, Colin Gray, was convicted at trial in March on 27 charges, including second-degree murder. Prosecutors said the elder Gray presented the assault-style rifle to his son as a Christmas present and that he provided the weapon despite warning signs. Those warning signs, as presented at trial, included an alleged shrine to school shooters and what prosecutors described as violent behavior by the younger Gray at home.
The prosecution of the father was noted in court documents as a rare criminal case against a parent in connection with a child's involvement in a mass shooting. Sentencing for the juvenile who pleaded guilty will be set following the court's review of victim statements and legal arguments from both sides.