Barrow County judge bans video of Colin Gray sentencing
Colin Gray, father of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray, testifies in a Barrow County courtroom on Feb. 11, 2025
BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - A Barrow County judge has ruled that impact statements in the sentencing hearing of Colin Gray, the father of the accused Apalachee High School shooter, cannot be recorded, broadcast, or streamed.
What we know:
Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm issued the ruling on Monday, citing the need to provide a "fair and impartial jury" for the upcoming murder trial of Colt Gray.
In the ruling, the judge wrote: "This testimony will include emotional testimony from the families of the victims and from the children who were shot or otherwise present and impacted. The vast majority of the potential jurors for [Colt’s] trial already have knowledge about the Apalachee School shooting from media coverage."
The judge added that due to the heightened notoriety of the case, broadcasts could potentially corrupt the jury pool.
Accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray walks into a Barrow County courtroom for a brief status hearing, where attorneys updated the judge on his pending psychological evaluation, on December 9, 2025. (FOX 5)
The backstory:
This past March, it took a jury less than two hours to return guilty verdicts on 27 felony counts, including second-degree murder.
Prosecutors argued Gray gave his son the AR-15-style rifle used in the Sept. 4 attack despite clear signs the teen was struggling. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence of the teen's mental health struggles, including school discipline records and prior threats reported to police.
The shooting killed teachers Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo.
A judge deferred the sentencing to allow the families of the victims to be present and deliver impact statements.
What's next:
Despite the ban on video of the testimony, the courtroom will remain open to the press.
The older Gray’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 28 and 29, while the younger Gray’s trial is set to begin this fall.
A status hearing for Colt Gray is scheduled for May 28 at 9 a.m.
The elder Gray faces a maximum sentence of 180 years in prison for his convictions.
The Source: The details in this article come from court documents filed in Barrow County Superior Court.