Colt Gray, the teenager accused of killing two students and two teachers in a 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia, is scheduled to return to court later this month for a “non-negotiated” plea hearing, according to court records.
Filings submitted Friday in Barrow County Superior Court in Winder, Georgia, show Gray is expected to change his plea when the parties appear before a judge on July 24 for a plea and sentencing hearing.
Gray, who was charged as an adult, had previously entered a not guilty plea. He faces 55 counts in all, including malice murder, aggravated battery and aggravated assault. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison for second-degree murder counts and as much as 180 years overall. His attorneys indicated in late 2025 that plea negotiations were underway, after which the judge set a deadline.
Gray was 14 at the time of the shooting and has been held in a juvenile detention facility since his arrest.
Mike Stewart / AP
His father, Colin Gray, was convicted in March of second-degree murder and all other charges against him. He was the first adult charged in connection with a school shooting in Georgia, and his prosecution marked the third known case in which a parent faced charges tied to a mass shooting allegedly carried out by their child.
Prosecutors argued that Colin Gray overlooked repeated warning signs and violent behavior by his son over several years. He acknowledged giving his son the rifle used in the school shooting, but told the court he had done so in an effort to bond with him through hunting and trips to the shooting range.
Authorities said that in September 2024, Gray brought a semiautomatic, assault-style rifle onto the school bus, with the barrel protruding from a book bag and concealed by poster board. He later left his second-period class, emerged from a bathroom with the weapon and opened fire in a classroom and hallway.
Investigators also said he left behind a notebook containing handwritten instructions outlining preparations for the attack, along with a diagram of his classroom.
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Dan Raby
contributed to this report.
