A teenager accused of fatally shooting two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia is set to appear in court for a status hearing later this month and is likely to change his plea.
Colt Gray has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the September 2024 shooting at. He is now expected to appear in court for a change-of-plea hearing on July 24, CNN reported. His trial had been tentatively set for October.
Court documents, filed Friday in Barrow County Superior Court in Winder, Georgia, show that will appear in court for a “non-negotiated” plea hearing.
The document indicates that Gray is set to change his plea when the parties are ordered to appear before the court on July 24 for a plea and sentencing hearing, CBS News reported.
Now 16, Gray had been and previously pleaded not guilty.
What is the case against Gray?
In September 2024, Gray carried a semiautomatic assault-style rifle onto the school bus, with the barrel sticking out of his book bag, wrapped up in a poster board.
He left his second-period class and then emerged from a bathroom with the rifle before shooting people in a classroom and hallways, CBS News reported.
He allegedly left a notebook with handwritten instructions detailing the steps to prepare for the violence and a diagram of his classroom.
The teen is facing a total of 55 counts, including malice murder, aggravated battery and aggravated assault. He faces up to 30 years in prison for the second-degree murder charges and up to 180 years in total.
Gray’s attorneys indicated in late 2025 that he was negotiating a plea deal. The judge then set a deadline.
Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, has remained in custody at a juvenile detention center since his arrest.
His father, of second-degree murder and all other charges. He was the first adult charged in connection with a school shooting in Georgia.
His prosecution was the third time a parent has been charged for their connection to a mass shooting allegedly carried out by their child.
According to ABC news, Colin admitted to giving his son the rifle used in the school shooting. He, however, told the court he did that in hopes of bonding with his child while hunting and shooting at the gun range.
