Boy who shot two classmates and two teachers dead when he was 14 LAUGHS as survivor reads victim impact statement at his murder sentencing

A teenager who shot four people dead in a rampage at his Georgia school was seen laughing Friday as a survivor read out her victim impact statement in court.

Colt Gray, 16, grinned and smiled as Natalie Griffith recounted how the September 2024 attack had left her unable to use her left hand.

She was among the nine people injured in the bloodbath at Apalachee High School, which claimed the lives of two of her classmates and two teachers.

Gray was just 14 when he carried out the massacre. He formally admitted to all 55 charges relating to the fatal shooting on Friday.

His plea means he must be sentenced to a minimum term of life in jail, however a judge is now deciding whether he will ever be eligible for parole.

As part of the hearing, the court heard statements from some of the family members of the four people killed: Mason Schermerhorn, 14, Christian Angulo, 14, Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.

Survivors including Griffith also provided harrowing testimony of the impact the shooting had on their lives. 

However, the speed at which Griffith rattled off the devastating impact of her injuries prompted laughter in the court, including from Gray, after the judge asked her to slow down. 

‘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.’

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. 

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.