Skip to content

Colin Gray Sentenced to 15 Years in Apalachee High School Case

newsJul 30, 2026171,251

A judge sentenced Colin Gray to 15 years in prison Thursday for his role in the 2024 Apalachee High School shooting, after a jury convicted him in March on 27 charges including second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. Judge Nicholas Primm ordered most of Gray’s sentences to run concurrently and said Gray failed to get his son needed mental health counseling, telling Gray, "It is clear you failed as a parent." Prosecutors had sought an 80-year term. The sentencing followed emotional testimony from victims' families, including Shayna Aspinwall, wife of teacher and coach Richard "Ricky" Aspinwall, who described living with post-traumatic stress disorder and blamed Gray for failing to act. Gray entered the Barrow County courtroom in a detention uniform; the hearing came days after his son, 16-year-old Colt Gray, was sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to 55 charges, including murder, in the shooting that killed two students and two teachers.

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

6385h ago
Quoting this
Akela Cooper41

Good. May this set the precedent

D Lavoie16

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.

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.

Rachael10

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.

Jo5

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

Smokey-Hell Nelson3

More of this accountability, please

Liberty and Justice for All3

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.

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.

2525h ago
3 sources