Apalachee school shooter Colt Gray sentenced to life without parole

“Four lives were stolen, two of whom were only just beginning. And it wasn’t done out of fear or anger. You weren’t being bullied at Apalachee. It wasn’t done out of hatred – you didn’t even know anybody at that school. It was done for the infamy of it," Judge Primm said during sentencing.

The judge agreed with prosecutors’ argument that Gray had become obsessed with other mass shooters through an online community and wanted to be famous.

“The pain that you visited upon this community is unlikely to disappear in my lifetime. You do not seem to be tormented by what you did. You seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize. You aren’t racked with guilt. You’re proud of yourself,” Judge Primm said.

District Attorney Brad Smith spoke after the sentencing, saying he was happy with the decision.

“This was something that I didn’t know existed, this true crime community that’s out there, and the insidiousness of it,” he said.

Gray pleaded guilty to 55 charges connected with the mass shooting he carried out as a 14-year-old freshman at the school in September 2024. Teachers Ricky Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were killed.

Watch the hearing on YouTube:

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Tuesday afternoon, Defense Attorney Charlton Allen and District Attorney Brad Smith presented closing arguments to the judge. 

“I think it’s become abundantly clear his ultimate goal was to be famous. Not in the sense adults think of fame but famous and popular within this sub culture community,” Smith told the judge. 

Witnesses testified Monday that Gray was a member of an online True Crime Community. 

They told the judge that that community intersections with neo-nazi groups, idolizing school shooters and encouraging others to commit violence. 

“The shooting was not the culmination of the plan. The shooting was just one of the steps of the plan,” said Smith. 

An investigator on the stand said jail phone calls between Gray and his mom indicated he has no remorse.

He reminded the judge of evidence that showed Gray mimicking other mass shooters before and after the shooting in a way that members of the True Crime Community would recognize and latch on to for online content. 

“The plan was ultimate and lifelong fame,” said Smith.

He said arguments that Gray’s chaotic childhood contributed to the crime are offensive to others who have survived brutal child abuse. 

“We’ve seen no evidence he has any ability to develop a conscience or any ability to ever value human life,” said Smith.

Defense Attorney Charlton Allen told the judge during his closing argument that Gray is young enough to change. 

“He’s not irretrievably broken,” Allen said.

Allen said Gray can still become a productive member of society.

“A life sentence with parole gives him an opportunity for hope. It’s an important factor for someone becoming a different person,” said Allen. “If we give him life without parole, that gives him no hope to change.”

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DAY 2 RECAP

The day began with Forensic Psychologist Dr. Kevin Richards testifying that Gray’s chaotic upbringing caused anxiety and depression.

“There was a lot of moving around,” said Richards. “A lot of chaos. The family moved a large number of times.”

He said the parents were financially irresponsible. He noted some abuse by the dad, drug use by both parents.

“I believe there was a lot of abuse, neglect, transition and chaos,” said Richards.

Richards said Gray was also spending a lot of time on communication platforms online. That’s where Richards said the teen became part of what’s known as the True Crime Community, TCC.

Richards said Gray became focused on people who do mass shootings to the point of being obsessed.

“He was a lonely, dysfunctional kid who was anxious, paranoid, depressed and immersed in this dysfunctional world with people obsessed with school shootings,” said Richards.

Prosecutors called Peter Smith to the stand Tuesday. Smith researches extremist groups. He told the judge this True Crime Community intersects with Neo-Nazi groups.

“At it’s most extreme and violent, it glorifies and encourages mass violence,” said Smith.

He said those who take it to the extreme mimic past mass shooters when committing their own crimes. He said that do that for notoriety and social standing with others in the TCC.

“There is a very clear problem of individuals who are part of these communities who progress toward violence or are encouraged by others in it to carry out those attacks,” said Smith.

DAY 1 RECAP

Families of those killed told the judge they prefer the maximum sentence. They delivered emotional victim impact statements after Gray pleaded guilty on Friday.

Breanna Schermerhorn, Mason’s mother, spoke first. She told the judge Gray knew the difference between right and wrong.

“I want it to be very clear that I do not forgive Mr. Gray,” said the mom. “The failures of the adults around him may explain parts of his story, but they do not excuse the decisions that he made. Those decisions were his and his alone, and because of those decisions, my Macy Mace is gone. My family, both biological and chosen, have been forced to endure horrors.”

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