In a local court in Winder, Georgia, USA, Colin Gray, the father of the 14-year-old shooter involved in the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting case, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday, July 30. The charges against him included second-degree murder.
The incident stemmed from a shooting on September 4, 2024, where Colt Gray, the 14-year-old, using a rifle given to him by his father, opened fire multiple times at Apalachee High School, resulting in the deaths of two students and two teachers, with several others injured.
Colt himself was earlier sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole by the same judge. The new school year at Apalachee High School is set to start on Friday, July 31.
Presiding Judge Nicholas Primm stated that the 15-year sentence took into account the close relationship between Colin’s failure to supervise his son and the son’s violent actions.
While Colin was not aware beforehand and did not directly participate in the shooting plot or harm anyone, he was still held responsible for failing to properly discipline his son.
Prosecutor Brad Smith of Barrow County pointed out that months before the incident, law enforcement had investigated Colt for threatening to carry out a violent attack at a elementary school. Despite this, Colin later gifted his son an assault rifle as a Christmas present and did not securely store the firearm. The prosecution originally sought an 80-year prison sentence for Colin.
Following the 15-year sentence, defense lawyer Brian Hobbs expressed that Colin did not intend to harm anyone, and a 10-year sentence is one of the harshest judgments rendered against parents for their child’s criminal actions in US history. Hobbs also revealed plans to appeal the decision.
Meanwhile, the widows of the deceased teacher Richard Aspinwall, Shayna Aspinwall, along with the families of the deceased students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, all appeared in court on Thursday to testify. They criticized Colin for not getting Colt proper psychological counseling, not removing the firearm from their home, and considered the 15-year sentence too lenient.
Colin becomes the first parent in the US to be convicted of “murder” in connection with a school shooting. In the earlier 2021 Oxford High School shooting case in Michigan, the parents of the perpetrator, James Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley, were only convicted of “involuntary manslaughter” and were sentenced to 10 years and 15 years in prison, respectively.