Father of Apalachee High School shooter given 15-year sentence, earliest release 2039

Colin Gray, the father of the student who carried out the September 4, 2024 attack at Apalachee High School, was sentenced Thursday in Barrow County to 15 years in prison. The Georgia Department of Corrections said he faces a latest possible release date of Sept. 5, 2039 and has been transferred to the Georgia Diagnostic Center Prison in Jackson, a facility that also houses male death-row inmates.

He was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the killings of teachers Cristina Irimie and Ricky Aspinwall. Additional convictions include multiple counts of child cruelty.

Prosecutors argued that Gray purchased the rifle used in the shooting and failed to secure it, despite being aware his son could be a danger. The shooter, 16-year-old Colt Gray, pleaded guilty to killing four people and injuring nine others and received a life sentence without parole.

"Four lives were stolen," said Judge Nicholas Primm during sentencing.