Georgia teen shooter gets maximum sentence of life in prison without parole

A teenager who opened fire at a Georgia high school in 2024 was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum possible sentence, which is life in prison without the chance of parole.

Sixteen-year-old Colt Gray pleaded guilty to all 55 counts against him last week for fatally shooting two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School in September 2024. Nine others were wounded.

“Your crimes do reflect permanent incorrigibility and I will sentence you to life without parole for each of the malice murders you committed,” Judge Nicholas Primm said in announcing the sentence, according to CNN.

The sentence comes after Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith asked the judge to give the teenager the maximum sentence, despite just being 14-years-old at the time of the shooting.

“I know he’s had a bad upbringing, but … in this courtroom we’ve seen a lot worse,” Smith said. “He’s the only one in the history of Georgia who has ever taken an assault rifle into a public school and opened fire on perfect strangers simply so he could be famous.”

Gray's attorney emphasized their client's young age and urged the judge to give him life in prison with the chance of parole because he considered life without parole too harsh for a teenager.

Gray declined to speak to the victims or their families before the sentencing. 

The teen's father, Colin Gray, is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday after he was found guilty of murder and manslaughter charges in March for purchasing the rifle for his son as a Christmas gift and leaving it unsecured in their house.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.