BARROW COUNTY, GA — Although Colt Gray has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting, legal experts say any appeal of that sentence would face long odds.
Gray pleaded guilty to all 55 counts he faced in connection with the shooting that killed Apalachee High School freshmen Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn, along with teachers Christina Irimie and Ricky Aspinwall.
Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm sentenced Gray to four concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole.
“Your crimes do reflect permanent incorrigibility and I will sentence you to life without parole,” Primm said.
During the sentencing hearing, defense attorney Charlton Allen argued for a sentence of life with the possibility of parole, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that life without parole could be cruel and unusual punishment for a teenager.
“He is not irretrievably broken,” Allen said.
“Hope is an important factor in somebody becoming a different person from when they start,” Allen said.
WSB senior legal analyst Ron Carlson said life without parole is allowed for juveniles in heinous homicide cases and believes any appeal would face an uphill battle.
“We don’t have any evidentiary errors here for the defense to rely on, on the appeal,” Carlson said.
“The appellate courts will probably uphold this sentence, unless there is something special that makes this a unique case,” Carlson said.
Carlson said Gray can file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, but appellate courts are generally not inclined to overturn sentences when the trial judge was closest to the case.
Gray’s father, Colin Gray, is scheduled to begin his sentencing hearing Thursday. He was found guilty of providing the gun used in the shooting and faces up to 180 years in prison.