BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — A judge sentenced the father of the Apalachee High School shooter to 15 years in prison Thursday.
Colin Gray will now move from Barrow County jail to a state prison facility to serve his 15-year sentence in as little as 10 days, Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco reports.
“It’s a divisive type of case,” said Judge Nicholas Primm.
The school shooting happened in September 2024. In March of this year, a jury found the dad guilty of failing to restrict Colt Gray’s access to guns despite the child showing signs of violence.
“He is a complete failure as a father,” said Junior Angulo. “He made a choice to buy that rifle. He made a choice to ignore every red flag.”
His brother, Christian Angulo, died inside the school.
The second student killed was Mason Schermerhorn. Both were 14.
Schermerhorn’s mother, Breanna, pointed out the warning signs missed.
A total of 11 people gave victim-impact statements to the judge.
During sentencing, the judge told Gray, “It is clear you failed as a parent.”
He pointed to the dad’s failure to send his son to school, provide a stable household and get him counseling. He pointed out the father had gun locks.
“You could have removed the ammo and magazines from the house,” said Primm. “If you had done any of those things, Ms. Irimie, Mr. Aspinwall, Mason and Christian would be here today.”
He told the courtroom since the father did not technically intend for his son to commit mass murder, he must sentence him based on criminal negligence.
That does not require a mandatory prison sentence.
So, he sentenced the father to 15 years for each of the students’ deaths, 10 years for each of the teachers’ deaths and 11 years for the child cruelty and reckless conduct convictions.
“Colin should be sentenced for what he did, not what his son did,” said Brian Hobbs, Colin Gray’s defense attorney.
That’s a total of 61 years in prison. However, the judge is allowing the father to serve them concurrently, at the same time. That adds up to 15 years in prison with the possibility of parole.
Which location Colin Gray moves to depends on security, bed availability and administrative processing.
He’ll be first moved to Georgia Diagnostics Prison in Jackson for assessment, said Brian Hobbs, Colin Gray’s defense attorney. Then he’ll be transferred to another facility.
Because his offense is considered non-violent, Colin Gray has to service a minimum of 1/3 of his sentence. “However, we never know how long they will serve before being paroled,” Hobbs said.
He asked the judge to reduce the 27 charges Colin Gray was convicted of to one second-degree murder charge, give him a 20-year prison sentence with 10 of them served in confinement.
District Attorney Brad Smith asked the judge to sentence the dad to 80 years in prison.
“People need to understand this is a phenomenon going on in our society,” said Smith. “Do not take these things lightly. I own guns. I’m not against people owning guns. But, when you see someone in distress, please take away their access to guns.”
Smith said it’s not the sentence but the guilty verdict that should send the message to society.
“You have a duty to not ignore the risks,” said Smith.
Gray’s attorneys have expressed interest in appealing the conviction.
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