A Georgia judge sentenced Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray to life in prison without the possibility of parole — the maximum consequence for a 16-year-old who methodically planned the murder of two teachers and two students and then basked in the online infamy he craved.

Gray pleaded guilty Friday to 55 counts, including murder, for the Sept. 4, 2024 shooting in Winder, roughly 45 miles northeast of Atlanta. Under Georgia law, murder carries a mandatory life sentence, so the only question was whether Gray would ever walk free. Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm said no.

"You do not seem to be tormented by what you did. You seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize. You aren't wracked with guilt. You're proud of yourself," Primm told Gray at sentencing, calling the crimes "deliberate, contemplated evil."

The victims: math teacher and football coach Richard "Ricky" Aspinwall, 39; teacher Cristina Irimie, 53; and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, seven hit by gunfire.

Their families asked for the maximum. Shayna Aspinwall, the coach's widow, described "a life sentence of grief and trauma for those left behind." Almost every victim and family member who addressed the court demanded no possibility of parole.

District Attorney Brad Smith argued Gray "cannot be in society," telling the court: "We've seen no evidence he has any ability to develop a conscience or any ability ever to fully value human life."

The defense countered that Gray was "not irretrievably broken," with attorney W. Charlton Allen asking the judge to allow the possibility of parole to give him "an opportunity of hope." Without hope, Allen argued, "that takes away the ability for him to change."

The evidence undercut that pitch. Investigators testified that Gray idolized mass shooters and talked about gaining notoriety through a school shooting in online chats with members of the so-called "true crime community." In recorded jailhouse calls with his mother, Marcee Gray, he directed her to look up what people were saying about him online and got excited when she described "fan art" drawings and comments about him.

Smith said Gray had the "mental wherewithal" to plant "Easter eggs" — details mimicking other mass killings — on the day of the shooting, anticipating they'd be mentioned in court and perpetuate his fame. "The shooting was not the culmination of the plan. The shooting was just one of the steps of the plan," Smith said. "The plan was ultimate and lifelong fame inside of the TCC."

After sentencing, Smith told reporters: "This is not a happy day. This is a relief day." He said he hoped his team had "done honor" to the victims.

Gray was 14 at the time of the shooting. He will never be eligible for release. The four Americans he killed will never come home.