Colt Gray and father Colin Gray face Barrow County sentencings
Colt and Colin Gray to have sentencing hearings this week
Confessed school shooter Colt Gray and his father, Colin Gray, are returning to a Barrow County courtroom this week to face sentencing for the deadly September 2024 Apalachee High School mass shooting.
BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - A Barrow County judge will decide soon whether 16-year-old Colt Gray spends the rest of his life in prison without parole after he pleaded guilty to 55 charges in the September 2024 Apalachee High School shooting.
What we know:
Colt Gray pleaded guilty last Friday to 55 charges without a negotiated plea deal. The judge must decide if he receives life in prison with or without parole.
PREVIOUS STORY: Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray pleads guilty
His father, Colin Gray, faces sentencing Thursday after a jury convicted him on 27 charges. Prosecutors charged Colin Gray for giving his son the AR-15 style rifle used in the attack.
PREVIOUS STORY: Apalachee HS shooting: Colin Gray sentencing date set
The September 2024 shooting killed students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, along with teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie. Nine other people suffered injuries during the attack.
What they're saying:
Community members in downtown Winder say they are watching the court outcomes closely.
Julian Pisczak said parents must answer for providing weapons to their kids.
"You got to pay the dues, you know, you got to pay, spend your life in prison," Pisczak said. "Hopefully, without the opportunity for parole."
Meanwhile, Sean Thompson sees Angulo's family mourning at his grave from his home in Hoschton.
"[His dad] is always cleaning it and sitting with him, and, you know, you could tell he's just devastated," Thompson said. "Just to think that some kid has his life taken away. He put 16th birthday balloons up there a few weeks ago, a couple months ago, and it was so depressing just thinking that kid got robbed of his life."
Thompson said he and others hope the judge sentences Colt Gray to life without parole.
However, he said the events of that day are still visible.
"Every time we see [the high school], we remember what happened there," Thompson said. "I think a lot of people feel that way. I'm not from here, but I know a lot of people are still affected by it and still think about it."
SEE ALL APALACHEE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING COVERAGE
What we don't know:
It remains to be seen what the judges will decide at sentencing.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from FOX 5 reporter Rey Llerena, who reported from Winder, as well as community members, court records, and legal analyst Joshua Schiffer.