A teenage boy who carried out a mass capturing at his Georgia highschool pleaded responsible Friday to all 55 counts in opposition to him, together with homicide and aggravated assault, as survivors and victims’ households spoke out in court docket.
Colt Grey, 16, agreed to a non-negotiated responsible plea, the decide stated, which means there is no such thing as a plea deal; the state will current its argument for an acceptable sentence, and the protection will do the identical.
The decide stated the minimal sentence is life with parole and the utmost is a life sentence with out parole.
Colt Grey seems in court docket, July 24, 2026.
Pool
Grey was 14 years outdated in September 2024 when he opened fireplace at Apalachee Excessive Faculty, killing two students and two teachers and injuring a number of others.
Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son, 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, was killed, stated in a sufferer affect assertion Friday, “Mason was a lot greater than a sufferer.”
“Mason was sort, compassionate, humorous and fiercely protecting of others,” she stated. “As a toddler with distinctive wants, he understood what it felt wish to battle and be ignored by others. As an alternative of changing into bitter, he turned an advocate.”
“He made those that had been usually unseen really feel seen, accepted and protected,” she stated.
“I had little question in my thoughts if Colt had really attended college as he ought to have, that Mason would have befriended him,” Breanna Schermerhorn stated.
She stated Grey “knew that pulling that set off was incorrect, he knew that each alternative he made that day would without end alter numerous lives.”
Christian Angulo, Mason Schermerhorn, Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie all died on the Apalachee Excessive Faculty capturing in Winder, Georgia, Sept. 5, 2024.
Barrow County Faculty District
One in all Mason Schermerhorn’s sisters, Alanna Schermerhorn Wallace, stated via tears that she misplaced the life she knew and her sense of security on the day her brother was killed. She stated she’s at all times scanning for exits and monitoring the individuals round her and is triggered by loud noises and sudden sounds.
One other sister, Lilianah Ahmed, stated via tears, “From a really younger age, Mason needed to be a household man. He needed to have a spouse, children. He needed to go to highschool and pursue a profession. … All these completely different components of himself he did not get to discover due to Colt.”
“My brother died alone and scared. [Gray] was the final individual to see Mason alive, and he took him from us,” Ahmed stated.
She additionally known as her brother “the success story that Colt may have been.”
The doorway signal of Apalachee Excessive Faculty adorned with flowers from guests on September 5, 2024 in Winder, Georgia.
Jessica Mcgowan/Getty Pictures
Shayna Aspinwall, whose husband, Richard Aspinwall, was killed, described him as a beloved dad, instructor and coach.
“Each vacation, birthday, anniversary and abnormal day is a reminder of what has been stolen from us,” she stated. “… Now our daughters, who had been 5 and a couple of on the time, should develop up with out their father. They are going to miss his steerage, his encouragement, his hugs, and all of the milestones he ought to have been right here to witness.”
Shayna Aspinwall requested the decide to not sentence Grey to life with the prospect for parole, saying the parole hearings can be “continued torture” for her household.
Faculty capturing suspect Colt Grey exits the Barrow County Courthouse, Dec. 9, 2025, in Winder, Ga.
Mike Stewart/AP Photograph
Ismael Angulo, whose brother, 14-year-old Christian Angulo, was killed, additionally requested the decide to condemn Grey to life with out the opportunity of parole, as he described “daily as a nightmare.”
“The defendant’s household will nonetheless get to see their son, speak to him and know he’s respiration. My mom, my father don’t get that privilege,” he stated. “… There isn’t any equity in that actuality. Christian was an attractive, harmless soul who was robbed of his desires.”
Scholar Taylor Jones, who was shot and wounded, stated in court docket she spent a number of months out and in of the hospital.
A police line is put up in entrance of Apalachee Excessive Faculty after a college capturing befell on September 4, 2024 in Winder, Georgia.
Megan Varner/Getty Pictures
“I used to be in numerous ache, on many medicines, and I used to be advised I may not have the ability to stroll once more,” Jones stated, noting that she was in a position to begin strolling about one yr later, however struggles with overwhelming nervousness.
One other wounded pupil, Nautica Walton, stated to Grey in court docket, “You took away the innocence of so many children … simply due to what you had been going via. … What you can’t take away from me is the individual I’m selecting to turn out to be. I’m nonetheless right here, I’m therapeutic and I’m discovering my power once more.”
Grey was accused of finishing up the capturing with a rifle his father, Colin Grey, gifted him as a Christmas current, officers stated. This March, Colin Gray was convicted of charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter, changing into the primary mum or dad within the U.S. convicted of homicide as a result of alleged acts of their little one.
This can be a creating story. Please test again for updates.
