School shooter’s parents imprisoned for failing to stop tragedy

‘I am forever denied the chance to hold my daughter or her future children in my arms’

A US SCHOOL shooter’s parents have been sentenced to up to 15 years for failing to prevent a “runaway train” in a case that could act as a blueprint for the future.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were the first parents convicted of manslaughter in a US mass school shooting after their teenage son Ethan killed four fellow students in Michigan in 2021.

They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward the then 15-year-old’s mental health.

Judge Cheryl Matthews signalled that the sentences could serve as a deterrent against future tragedies.

“These convictions are not about poor parenting,” she said. “These convictions confirm repeated acts, or lack of acts, that could have halted an oncoming runaway train.”

She added: “Opportunity knocked over and over again – louder and louder

– and was ignored. No one answered.” Ethan Crumbley, now 17, is already serving a life sentence over the shooting.

Prosecutors said “tragically simple actions” by both parents could have stopped the catastrophe.

The court heard Ethan had drawn images of a gun on his homework shortly before the shooting along with a plea for help.

But when teachers at Oxford High School called them in to raise concerns, his parents failed to disclose that the drawing resembled a gun Mr Crumbley had recently purchased. Ethan brought the Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun to school that same day, killing Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Justin Shilling, and Madisyn Baldwin, both 17, and wounding seven others.

Before the sentencing, the parents of the victims condemned the Crumbleys’ inaction.

“The blood of our children is on your hands, too,” said Craig Shilling, who wore a hoodie bearing the image of his son Justin.

Nicole Beausoleil, the mother of Madisyn Baldwin, told them: “While you were purchasing a gun for your son and leaving it unlocked, I was helping her finish her college essays”.

Both Mr and Mrs Crumbley apologised to the relatives in court during the hearing on Monday. “My heart is really broken for everybody involved,” Mr Crumbley, 47, said. Mrs Crumbley, 45, said: “I will be in my own internal prison for the rest of my life.”

The judge sentenced them to 10 to 15 years in prison each with credit for the 28 months they have already served while awaiting trial.

Steve St. Juliana said Hana’s murder “has destroyed a large portion of my very soul”. “I will never walk her down the aisle,” he said. “I am forever denied the chance to hold her or her future children in my arms.”