ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge has scheduled a plea and sentencing hearing later this month for a teenager accused of a deadly shooting spree at Apalachee High School, which resulted in the deaths of four individuals in September 2024.

The teenage suspect, Colt Gray, 16, initially entered a not guilty plea to charges that include murder. The tragic incident claimed the lives of two students and two teachers, also injuring several others, at the school located northeast of Atlanta.

According to a court filing on Friday, the judge presiding over the case has scheduled a “Non-Negotiated Plea and Sentencing Hearing” to commence on July 24. The judge previously indicated that Gray must inform the state and the court if he wishes to change his plea to guilty before the trial, with a deadline set for this Wednesday.

In this case, a non-negotiated plea implies that there is no agreement between the defense and the state regarding sentencing. Unlike a plea deal, which involves a prearranged sentence between prosecutors and the defendant in exchange for a guilty plea, here the judge has the sole authority to determine the sentence. The judge’s decision will follow presentations from both sides, summarizing the case and offering sentencing recommendations.

Attempts to reach Colt Gray’s attorney for comment on Sunday were unsuccessful as there was no immediate response to an email request.

Gray’s trial had been set to begin in mid-October in Columbia County, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Barrow County where the shooting happened, after the judge agreed to a defense request to change the venue.

Gray’s father, Colin Gray, was convicted by a jury in March on charges including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors said he gave his teenage son the assault-style rifle used to open fire at the school. The elder Gray is set to be sentenced later this month.

The Sept. 4, 2024, shooting killed teachers Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, seven of them hit by gunfire. Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, was charged as an adult with 55 total counts, including murder, cruelty to children and 25 counts of aggravated assault.

Investigators testified that Colt Gray carried the rifle given to him by his father onto the school bus with the barrel wrapped in a poster board. They said the teenager left his second-period class and emerged from a bathroom with the rifle, shooting people in a classroom and hallway.

Investigators have said the teenager carefully plotted the shooting at the high school of 1,900 students. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent testified that the boy left a notebook in his classroom with step-by-step instructions and a diagram to prepare for the assault, including an estimate that he could kill as many as 26 people and wound as many as 13 others.

Colt and Colin Gray were interviewed by sheriff’s deputies about an online threat linked to Colt Gray in May 2023. Colt Gray denied making the threat at the time. He skipped 8th grade, enrolled as a freshman at Apalachee after the academic year began, and then skipped multiple days of school.

Family members had been seeking psychological help for Colt Gray before the shooting, but it appeared he never saw a counselor.

Colt’s mother, Marcee Gray, who was separated from Colin Gray, told investigators that she had argued with Colin Gray weeks before the shooting, asking him to secure his guns and restrict Colt’s access. Instead, over time, he bought the boy ammunition, a gun sight and other shooting accessories, records show.

Colt Gray even created a shrine in his bedroom to Nikolas Cruz, the shooter in the 2018 massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, prosecutors said.

A Colorado DNA analyst’s recent guilty plea has reignited interest in the unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey. Her father is now advocating for advanced DNA testing that he feels could finally crack the case.

In an interview, John Ramsey expressed confidence that former Colorado Bureau of Investigation analyst Yvonne “Missy” Woods was not connected to his daughter’s investigation. He noted that the initial DNA tests were conducted independently.

“A separate lab in Virginia, Bode Labs, performed the first evidence tests,” Ramsey explained. “They reported in January 1997 that they uncovered unidentified male DNA on JonBenét’s underwear.”

Despite the upheaval caused by the broader DNA scandal, Boulder authorities maintain that the JonBenét Ramsey murder probe has remained untainted and unaffected.

“The Boulder Police Department does not believe the actions of Missy Woods have had any effect on the JonBenét Ramsey case after a review of all the records by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation,” a Boulder Police Department spokesperson told News Media.

“Because this is an active homicide investigation, we are unable to answer any specific questions regarding the investigation at this time,” the statement continued.

The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office reached the same conclusion, telling News Media that CBI’s review determined Woods’ criminal conduct “will not have an impact on the evidence in the JonBenét Ramsey investigation.”

A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office also told News Media the investigation remains active, with the team working the case meeting as recently as last month.

The DA’s office said investigators also met with the Ramsey family several months ago, plan to continue providing updates and are reviewing evidence to ensure the investigation benefits from the latest advances in forensic science.

“There is a strong push to ensure that all items of evidence have been reviewed for appropriate forensic testing in various disciplines, and most notably to ensure DNA testing has kept pace with advancements in DNA testing methodologies,” the spokesperson said. “Additionally, the federal, state and local agencies involved remain steadfast in their diligence to explore all advanced DNA testing capabilities from outside independent labs, while ensuring the efficacy and validation support for those evolving testing methodologies.”

The comments mark one of the clearest acknowledgments to date that investigators are evaluating advanced DNA testing through outside independent laboratories, an approach Ramsey has advocated for more than a year.

The renewed attention comes after Woods pleaded guilty June 23 to cybercrime, first-degree perjury, attempting to influence a public servant and forgery for criminal conduct committed between 2008 and 2023 while working as a forensic laboratory scientist for CBI. Woods worked for the agency from 1994 until 2023.

According to prosecutors, Woods altered and deleted data related to critical portions of the laboratory’s DNA quality control process. Under the plea agreement, she faces a mandatory prison sentence of eight to 16 years after prosecutors consolidated more than 100 original felony charges into four felony convictions. She is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8.

Although Ramsey said Woods’ misconduct did not affect the evidence in his daughter’s case, he believes the controversy reinforces the need for outside laboratories to handle advanced DNA analysis.

Ramsey said he also continues to question why some evidence collected from the crime scene was never tested.

“We did know that a number of items from the crime scene were sent in for testing, and a number were not tested,” Ramsey told News Media. “We always kind of wondered why. I mean, items that should have been sampled, but they weren’t.”

Ramsey said subsequent rounds of DNA testing identified the same unknown male DNA profile on additional pieces of evidence, reinforcing his belief that investigators already possess the DNA needed to identify his daughter’s killer.

“Bottom line is we have the killer’s DNA and FGG is the new tool which could give us the killer’s name if the police would only use it,” Ramsey said, referring to forensic genetic genealogy.

Ramsey said the work should be conducted by one of the specialized private laboratories with expertise in forensic genetic genealogy because, in his view, local law enforcement agencies do not have the technology or personnel to perform that type of analysis themselves.

“We have been begging the police to work with one of these labs, but we don’t know if they will do it,” he said.

The district attorney’s office said authorities are actively exploring advanced DNA testing capabilities through outside independent laboratories as the investigation continues.

JonBenét Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family’s Boulder, Colorado, home on Dec. 26, 1996. Her death remains one of the nation’s most infamous unsolved murder cases, with no one ever charged.

While investigators maintain the CBI scandal had no impact on the Ramsey investigation, Ramsey hopes the renewed attention will accelerate the use of forensic genetic genealogy, a technology he believes could finally reveal the identity of the person who killed his daughter.

News Media reached out to Woods’ attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.