Colt Gray, the teen accused of the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School, appeared in handcuffs Tuesday with a new attorney by his side for his latest status hearing. 

Attorney Aisha Broderick, who had been appointed to Gray in October, told the judge they are still waiting for a medical evaluation to be completed, a report she said will help determine what additional motions the defense files and will guide the direction of the case moving forward. 

The evaluation is expected to be finished by the end of February with the next hearing scheduled for March 18, 2026.

In May, previous defense attorney Alfonso D. Kraft told Barrow County Superior Court Judge Nick Primm that his client was moving toward pleading guilty after a scheduled meeting with a psychologist.

"We should be good to go," Kraft said.

The hearing had been scheduled for October, but Gray's attorneys had asked for more time to prepare.

Gray had been charged as an adult and had previously pleaded not guilty. He has remained in custody in a juvenile detention center since his arrest.

Prosecutors were looking to accept a non-negotiated plea, meaning they would not recommend a lower sentence. The key issue in any plea is likely to be whether Gray is sentenced to life without parole or will get a chance at parole at a later date. 

As a juvenile, he cannot be sentenced to death.

A deadly school shooting shocks North Georgia

The Sept. 4 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, then 14, was indicted on a total of 55 counts, including murder in the deaths of four people and 25 counts of aggravated assault.

Investigators have said the teenager carefully plotted the shooting at the 1,900-student high school. 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.

The agent said that Gray concealed the SIG Sauer M400 rifle used in the shooting with a white poster board and kept it concealed until his second period, when he went to the restroom and took out the gun.

Colt Gray's father, Colin Gray, is also facing dozens of charges in connection with the killings, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. He is the first adult known to be charged in a school shooting in Georgia.

Colin Gray gave his son the assault-style weapon as a Christmas gift and was aware that the child's mental health had deteriorated in the weeks before the shooting, investigators testified at an earlier hearing. He was also aware that his son was obsessed with school shooters and even had a shrine above his home computer for the gunman in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school massacre, prosecutors said.

Earlier this year, a judge agreed to try the elder Gray outside of Barrow County out of concern that publicity from the case might have tainted the opinions of local potential jurors. 

Judge Nick Primm set the next court date in Colt Gray's case for March 18 at 9 a.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.