A Michigan judge sentenced the first parents convicted in a mass school shooting to at least 10 years in prison. The judge expressed regret over missed opportunities that could have prevented their teenage son from possessing a gun and killing four students in 2021. Jennifer and James Crumbley did not know their son, Ethan Crumbley, had a handgun in his backpack when he was dropped off at Oxford High School. Prosecutors convinced jurors that the parents still played a disastrous role in the violence by failing to secure the gun at home and ignoring signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health.
During the sentencing hearing, emotional statements were made by the families of the victims of the school shooting. Craig Shilling, who lost his son Justin Shilling in the attack, told the Crumbleys that the blood of their children is on their hands as well. Nicole Beausoleil, the mother of shooting victim Madisyn Baldwin, criticized the Crumbleys for their parenting failures. The prosecution asked the judge to impose a minimum 10-year prison sentence on the couple, while the defense sought to keep them out of prison, pointing out that they had already spent nearly 2 1/2 years in jail awaiting trial.
James Crumbley, 47, denied knowing that his son was deeply troubled before the shooting. The couple had separate trials in Oakland County court, where jurors saw evidence of their son’s violent drawings and heard testimony about the crucial hours leading up to the attack. Ethan Crumbley, who is serving a life sentence for the murders, had sketched images of a gun and a wounded man on a school assignment, accompanied by distressing phrases. The school had called the parents for a meeting after finding the drawing, but they did not disclose that they had recently purchased a gun. That same day, Ethan committed the shooting at the school, resulting in the deaths of four students and injuries to several others.
Jennifer Crumbley expressed her deepest sorrow about the shooting during her remarks at the sentencing hearing. She stated that her comment about not doing anything differently was misunderstood and blamed the school for not providing a full picture of their son’s behavior. Despite the lack of testimony from mental health specialists during the trials, the judge allowed the jury to see excerpts from Ethan’s journal, where he expressed a desire for help with his mental problems. Family members of the victims were not convinced by the Crumbleys’ courtroom statements and viewed their expressions of remorse as attempts to evade accountability for their actions.
The judge will decide later on whether the Crumbleys will be allowed to have contact with their son while they are in separate state prisons. The prosecutor raised concerns about allowing communication between co-defendants and highlighted the constitutional rights of the parents of the victims. The parents of the victims have been deprived of their right to be parents, and their perspectives on the case were crucial in determining the appropriate sentencing for the Crumbleys. The judge’s decision on this matter will be significant in shaping the dynamics of this tragic case moving forward.
