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Colin Gray Sentenced to 15 Years in Apalachee High School Case

newsJul 30, 2026281,670

A judge sentenced Colin Gray to 15 years in prison Thursday after a jury convicted him in March on 27 charges related to the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting, including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. Judge Nicholas Primm ordered most sentences to run concurrently, rejecting prosecutors' request for an 80-year term. Prosecutors argued Gray provided the rifle used in the shooting despite repeated warning signs about his son’s declining mental health; Primm said, "It is clear you failed as a parent." Gray’s hearing followed the sentencing of his son, 16-year-old Colt Gray, who pleaded guilty to 55 charges and received life in prison without parole for killing two students and two teachers. Victims' family members gave emotional testimony, with Shayna Aspinwall describing lasting post-traumatic stress after her husband Richard "Ricky" Aspinwall's death and Breanna Schermerhorn saying the massacre was preventable and tied to parental choices. The judge cited Gray’s failures to get his son mental health help as central to the case against him.

Phil Lewis
@phillewis.bsky.social

A father who gave his son the gun he used to kill two students and two teachers at a Georgia high school has been sentenced to 15 years in prison

75145d ago
Quoting this
Akela Cooper47

Good. May this set the precedent

D Lavoie17

The details of this case are so much worse than just "he gave his kid a gun" (no shade to the skeet or headline). This guy's actions were appalling. He had been specifically visited by the cops about his son making a school shooting threat -- and then gave him an AR-15 for Christmas.

Rachael12

yes yes yes!!! this is such a huge win. being a responsible gun owner means accepting the consequences that come with someone using a gun you gave them to end lives.

Brian Schaffnit11

Excellent work here, Georgia. Hopefully this sets a precedent moving forward where parents of school shooters can pay the price if they’re effectively accomplices to the crime like this asshole was.

Smokey-Hell Nelson6

More of this accountability, please

Jo5

Good. People who buy their kids guns who then end up using them for murder should face more consequences like this.

Liberty and Justice for All4

Good. Maybe these jackasses who think kids should have guns might think twice after this stiff ruling. Bravo to whomever handed that sentence down, it wasn't a slap on the wrist.

JTM 💙💛3

He should have gotten more. 4 people dead because he decided to hand an AR15 to his disturbed kid.

Ari is afraid to change pfp now2

Good good. More of this please. Make parents nosy. It's their job. And when they are nosy wrong hold them accountable. May he face people who have lost loved ones to this kind of violence in prison. I have.

Ben Says Abolish ICE2

If you look up the transcripts of the calls between the mother and son then you know she belongs behind bars too. Gleefully describing to her son horrific right-wing memes of him with other school shooters.

The New York Times
@nytimes.com

Breaking News: The father of a teenager who fatally shot four people at a Georgia high school in 2024 was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a jury found he bore criminal responsibility for his son’s deadly attack.

26845d ago
3 sources