Colin Gray got 15 years on Thursday.
That’s the sentence a Barrow County judge handed the father of the teenager who opened fire at Apalachee High School back in September 2024. Four people died that day. Two teachers. Two students. Nine others were wounded. The rifle used in the attack came straight from Colin’s house.
His son Colt, who was 14 at the time, already took a life sentence without parole two days earlier after pleading guilty. Now the father is dealing with the fallout of putting that gun in his hands.
Colin bought the AR-15-style rifle as a Christmas gift. That fact came up again and again during the trial. The kid had been showing clear signs of trouble—obsession with past school shooters, mental health issues, behavior that had people around him worried. Teachers noticed. Others noticed. Colin still left the firearm where his son could reach it.
Judge Nicholas Primm didn’t hold back. He called Colin a failed parent who ignored warning signs that were flashing bright. The jury had already found him guilty of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors wanted a longer stretch. The defense argued for less. Fifteen years is where it landed.
This is the first time Georgia has prosecuted a parent this way after a child’s mass school shooting. It’s also the first murder conviction of a parent in a case like this anywhere in the country. The Michigan parents in the Oxford shooting got manslaughter and 10 to 15 years. Georgia took it a step further.
Oxford High School (Michigan) vs. Apalachee High School (Georgia) Parent Sentencing
Oxford (James & Jennifer Crumbley)
- Shooting: November 30, 2021 – four students killed, seven others injured.
- Parents each convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
- Sentenced April 9, 2024 to 10–15 years in prison (minimum 10 years before parole eligibility, concurrent sentences).
- They were the first parents in the U.S. convicted of homicide charges for a child’s mass school shooting.
- Their son, Ethan, received life without parole.
Apalachee (Colin Gray)
- Shooting: September 4, 2024 – four killed (two teachers, two students), nine injured.
- Father convicted of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter (among other charges).
- Sentenced July 30, 2026 to 15 years in prison.
- First parent in Georgia prosecuted this way and the first in the country convicted of murder (not just manslaughter) for a child’s school shooting.
- His son, Colt, also received life without parole.
Key differences
- Charge level: Michigan stuck with involuntary manslaughter. Georgia went higher with second-degree murder.
- Sentence structure: Crumbleys got a range (10–15). Gray got a flat 15 years.
- Precedent: Oxford broke the ground as the first parental homicide convictions. Apalachee pushed it further by securing an actual murder conviction against a parent.
Families of the victims spoke in court. Shayna Aspinwall, whose husband Ricky was one of the teachers killed, talked about the permanent hole left behind. Relatives of the two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, described the same kind of loss. Teacher Cristina Irimie’s family added their own pain. Almost two years later, none of it has faded.
Colt studied earlier shooters. He wanted the same kind of attention. His father had chances to step in—get him treatment, lock the guns up, pay closer attention. Those chances were missed.
Fifteen years won’t bring anyone back. It does put a clear number on what happens when a parent hands a troubled teenager a semiautomatic rifle and looks the other way. The courtroom in Winder just made that point.
