School shooter Ethan Crumbley’s parents are each sentenced to 10-15 years in prison
Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, each will spend the next 10 to 15 years in prison in Tuesday’s first-of-its-kind penalty.
They each received the maximum sentences sought by prosecutors after they were found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials in February and March for the killing of Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17, in the school shooting carried out by their son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time the shooting occurred on Nov. 30, 2021.
Before Judge Cheryl Matthews handed down her ruling, she noted that there were chilling warning signs about Ethan Crumbley, adding that “parents are not expected to be psychic.”
“But these convictions are not about poor parenting. These convictions confirm repeated acts, or lack of acts, that could’ve halted an oncoming runaway train,” Matthews told the courtroom.
The Crumbleys are the nation’s first parents to be convicted and sentenced on charges arising from a shooting carried out by their child. They will each receive credit for 858 days already served.
During sentencing, reports indicate, Jennifer
Crumbley would often look contemptuously at her estranged husband, James, who has been jailed and tried separately from his wife.
“I know this is an emotional day for everyone,” Matthews said before sentencing got underway.
Ethan Crumbley in
2022 pleaded guilty to the four murders, terrorism and related charges and in December was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
His parents had bought the pistol for him for target shooting.
Addressing the victims’ parents in the Oakland County court, Jennifer Crumbley expressed her “deepest sorrows to the victims’ families,” saying that there has been much “gravity and weight” that has “taken on my heart and soul” and that “nothing I can say will ease” the four victims’ families pain.
“I have taken countless nights to lament,” she said, adding that “I pray all the victims are in God’s mercy and peace.”
She said her situation “could be any parent.”
Jennifer Crumbley also criticized school officials who she claimed did not do enough to prevent the eventual outcome.
James Crumbley, after apologizing to the victims’ families, had asked Matthews for a “just and fair” sentence against him.
“I can’t express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him [the shooter] or what was going to happen,” the father of Ethan Crumbley said.