A historic sentence was imposed on the parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley on Tuesday, April 9. In the United States, the first parents found guilty in a mass school shooting are James and Jennifer Crumbley. According to the Associated Press, a judge sentenced them both to at least 10 but as much as 15 years in prison.
It is Ethan who killed four Oxford High School students in 2021. In December 2023, a judge sentenced the 17-year-old to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He had entered a guilty plea to charges of terrorism and first-degree murder. Similar to his parents’ conviction, Ethan Crumbley’s sentence is unusual for a teenager.
Involuntary manslaughter charges were brought against his parents after the attack on Oxford High School. Despite their separate trials, a jury found James Crumbley guilty in mid-March and Jennifer Crumbley guilty in February.
Ethan Crumbley’s Parents Could Have Stopped the Shooting, According to Prosecutors
Prosecutors allegedly obtained the convictions by demonstrating that the teen’s mental health was not a priority and that there was an unlocked gun in the home.
On November 30, 2021, Ethan Crumbley allegedly drew dark pictures of a gun, a bullet, and a wounded man for a math assignment.
. He wrote sayings like, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me. My life is useless. Blood everywhere.”
Following a fifteen-minute meeting to discuss the assignment, his parents declined to offer to bring their fifteen-year-old home. Employees at Oxford High did not request it.
According to reports, Ethan explained to a school counselor that the drawing represented his passion for making video games. But his parents didn’t mention that the gun looked like the Sig Sauer 9 mm that James had bought four days prior. On social media, Ethan had called the weapon his “beauty.”
During or following the meeting, Ethan’s backpack was not examined by any parent or school official.
Later on November 30, Ethan opened his backpack, took out his handgun, and started shooting at the school. In the end, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shillin, and Madisyn Baldwin passed away. Another seven people were shot.
Regarding Ethan’s mental health, no experts testified during their trials. Nonetheless, the adolescent’s journal entry revealed his parents’ lack of concern.
“I have zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up the … school,” Ethan wrote. “I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help.”
Months before the 2021 shooting, Ethan was said to have disclosed hallucinations; however, Jennifer stated in court that she thought he was just “messing around.”
Parents Of Deceased Oxford High Students Speak At Sentencing
Before the parents were sentenced, the families of the students who were shot and killed begged the judge to give the parents a 10-year sentence, calling them failures whose self-centeredness resulted in four deaths and a tragedy for the community.
“The blood of our children is on your hands, too,” Justin’s father, Craig Shillin, said.
Nicole Madisyn’s mother, Nicole Beausoleil, reminisced about the small things she liked to do for her daughter, like helping her pick her senior year classes or arranging for her car to get an oil change.
“While you were purchasing a gun for your son and leaving it unlocked, I was helping her finish her college essays,” Beausoleil told James and Jennifer Crumbley.
“Tragically simple actions” by both parents could have prevented the deaths, according to the prosecution. Using a cable lock to secure the gun was one example of an action that the prosecutors showed during James‘ trial and that investigators discovered in the parents’ house.
Ed White of the Associated Press contributed to this story.
