WINDER, GA — A teenager who pled guilty to fatally shooting four people at Apalachee High School when he was 14-years-old was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Barrow County, the Associated Press reported.
Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm sentenced 16-year-old Colt Gray to life in prison without the possibility of parole after hearing from victims, family members of those killed, as well as the lead investigator, a forensic psychologist who had evaluated Gray, a youth detention center counselor and Gray's grandmother.
Murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison in Georgia, so the only decision Primm had to make was whether Gray should ever be eligible for parole. He decided the teen should never be allowed out.
"You do not seem to be tormented by what you did," Primm said. "You seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize. You aren't wracked with guilt. You're proud of yourself."
Gray was charged as an adult with 55 total counts, including murder in the four deaths and 25 counts of aggravated assault.
He pled guilty without having reached a deal with prosecutors Friday. He had previously pleaded not guilty to charges in the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting that killed two students and two teachers, and left nine others wounded at Apalachee High School in Winder.
The deadly shooting claimed the lives of two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
Another teacher and eight more students were injured; seven of them hit by gunfire.
RELATED: Teen Pleads In School Shooting That Killed 4 At Apalachee High: Report
Investigators testified during the sentencing hearing that Gray idolized other mass shooters, talking about them online with other members of the "true crime community," a group of young people online who are fascinated with such attacks.
Gray had chatted online about gaining notoriety through a school shooting and his admiration for previous mass shooters.
Prosecutors played recordings of phone conversations Gray had with his mother from a youth detention center in the months after the shooting. During those calls, he directed his mother to look up what people were saying about him online.
When she described "fan art" drawings depicting him or comments people made about him, he asked her how much engagement those posts were getting and seemed excited when they were getting a lot.
Gray had the "mental wherewithal" to mimic details of other mass killings on the day of the shooting, Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brad Smith said. He took steps to place those "Easter eggs," anticipating that they would be mentioned in court one day and would perpetuate his fame, the prosecutor said.
"The shooting was not the culmination of the plan. The shooting was just one of the steps of the plan. The plan was ultimate and lifelong fame inside of the TCC," Smith said, referencing the "true crime community."
Gray's maternal grandmother, Debbie Polhamus, testified that the teen had a troubled childhood and that his parents failed him. Her grandson had grown "highly agitated and aggressive" in the weeks before the shooting, she said, adding that she had urged his parents to get him some help but they didn't follow through.
"I tried to help Colt because nobody else was helping him," she said.
Primm acknowledged that Gray was failed by his parents, his extended family and, to a certain extent, society.
"But that failure does not absolve you from who you chose to idolize, worship and become," the judge said, alluding to Gray's fascination with mass shooters.
Smith had argued that Gray "cannot be in society."
"We've seen no evidence he has any ability to develop a conscience or any ability ever to fully value human life," Smith said.
Defense attorney W. Charlton Allen told the judge his client is "not irretrievably broken." Giving him the possibility of parole would give him "an opportunity of hope," Allen said, adding that without hope, "that takes away the ability for him to change."
A jury in March convicted Gray's father on charges including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors said the elder Gray, who is scheduled to be sentenced next week, gave his son the assault-style rifle used to open fire at the school.
State and federal leaders used the shooting to urge for more gun control.
Since 2020, there have been 155 mass shootings with gunfire being the leading cause of child deaths, the Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund reported.
The Associated Press contributed reporting and writing.
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