A Georgia teenager who killed four people during a shooting at his high school was seen laughing in court Friday after a judge asked a survivor to slow down while reading her victim impact statement.
Colt Gray, 16, appeared to join laughter in the courtroom as Natalie Griffith described how the September 2024 attack left her without the use of her left hand, before the judge interrupted to ask her to speak more slowly.
Griffith was one of nine people wounded in the shooting at Apalachee High School, where two students and two teachers were killed.
Gray was 14 at the time of the massacre. On Friday, he formally admitted to all 55 charges connected to the deadly attack.
The plea guarantees that Gray will receive at least a life sentence, though the judge must still determine whether he will ever have the possibility of parole.
During the hearing, the court heard emotional statements from relatives of the four victims: Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.
Survivors, including Griffith, also gave painful accounts of how the shooting has changed their lives.
But as Griffith quickly read through the devastating consequences of her injuries, the judge’s request that she slow down drew laughter in the courtroom — and Gray appeared to laugh as well.
School shooter Colt Gray, 16, laughed as a survivor read out her victim impact statement
Gray formally pleaded guilty to all 55 charges related to the bloodbath at Apalachee High School on Friday
‘I got shot twice, once in my wrist and once in my upper arm,’ Griffith said. ‘I lost the ability to use my left hand, but on some days it doesn’t feel like that is the biggest thing I lost.
‘After the shooting I lost my independence, I could not put on my own clothes or do my own hair, things that were easy for me became a challenge.’
The court also heard from Gray’s classmate, Nautica Walton, who told him: ‘I hate everything about you.’
‘I hate the scars you left on my body. I hate that you took innocent lives in front of innocent people. Most of all, I hate that I let you live in my mind,’ she said.
Taylor Brown recalled the harrowing moment she realized she had been shot and how she urged classmates to notify her family.
‘I remember telling my friends to call my brother to let him know that I had been shot and I didn’t know if I was going to make it,’ she said. ‘My friends were sitting with me, doing anything they could to help me stay awake.’
Survivor Hayden Bowen told the court she has frequent panic attacks and struggles to be alone since the shooting but showed mercy as she addressed Gray in court.
‘I want to start off by saying I forgive you,’ Bowen sobbed. ‘Not for you, but for me and my peace.’
The shooting claimed the lives of Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, Cristina Imrie, 53, and Richard Aspinwall, 29
Lilianah Ahmed, the sister of Mason Schermerhorn who was killed, walks away after testifying during Gray’s plea hearing
Breanna Schermerhorn, the mother of Mason Schermerhorn, told Gray her son would have befriended him had he given the school a chance
Several family members of those who were killed appealed to Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm to hand down a sentence of life without eligibility for parole.
Aspinwall’s widow told the court the possibility of repeated parole hearings would retraumatize her.
‘No sentence the court imposes can bring my husband back,’ she said. ‘The grief of losing him is constant.’
Angulo’s brother called the days since his brother’s murder a ‘nightmare’ as he lamented the unfairness of the situation.
‘The defendant’s family will still get to see their son, talk to him, and know he is breathing,’ he said. ‘My mother (and) my father don’t get that privilege. The only way to visit Christian now is by standing over his grave. There is no fairness in that reality.’
He described his brother as a ‘beautiful, innocent soul’ and as he urged the judge to sentence Gray to life in prison without parole.
Gray’s trial laid bare his tumultuous upbringing prior to the shooting as the court heard about his mother’s addiction struggles.
His father Colin Gray was also convicted in connection to the shooting after it emerged he gifted his son the AR-15 style rifle used as a Christmas gift.
Gray carried out the shooting in September 2024 using an AR-15 style weapon he had been gifted by his father
Gray’s father Colin Gray was also convicted in connection to the massacre at a separate trial
He was found guilty on 29 counts including second-degree murder and manslaughter. He will be sentenced next week.
Gray carried out the mass shooting after attending Apalachee High for just a few days.
Breanna Schermerhorn said Friday her son Mason would have befriended Gray if he had given his classmates a chance.
‘I want it to be very clear I do not forgive Mr Gray,’ she said through tears. ‘However I do know there are two truths which can exist at the same time. The adults in his young life failed him.
‘But those decisions were his and his alone and because of his decision my Macey-Mace is gone.’
She went on to describe the ‘horror’ of Mason’s family member being forced to identify him at the school that day.
‘That is an image that he will carry the rest of his life,’ Schermerhorn said.
This is a developing story.
