In one case, in a neighboring Michigan county, the owner of a gun used by a six-year-old to shoot a classmate pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in 2000. While other parents have been charged for deaths resulting from unsecured guns, those cases have involved much younger children, experts said. The case appears to be the first against parents of a teenage school shooter. That means prosecutors will be relying on traditional criminal law, under which they must prove that the Crumbleys were not merely negligent, but grossly negligent or reckless, the experts said.Įthan Crumbley has been charged as an adult, even though he is under 18. Some states have laws holding gun owners liable for failing to secure weapons around children, but Michigan does not. The Crumbleys' lawyers, Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, on Friday denied reports that their clients were fleeing law enforcement. The morning of the shooting, a teacher discovered a drawing that Ethan Crumbley had made depicting a handgun, a bullet, and a bleeding figure, with the words "Blood everywhere" and "The thoughts won't stop - help me." After being summoned to the school and shown the picture, James and Jennifer Crumbley did not take their son home, search his backpack or ask about the gun, prosecutors said. You have to learn not to get caught," after a teacher saw him searching for ammunition on his phone during class. They said Jennifer Crumbley wrote in a text message to her son, "LOL, I'm not mad at you. Michigan prosecutors on Friday charged the couple with involuntary manslaughter for buying their son the weapon as a Christmas gift and ignoring warning signs as late as the day of the shooting. See: Complete Oxford High School shooting coverage hereĬopyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - There is little precedent for the criminal charges against the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the Michigan teenager who fatally shot four of his high school classmates with a handgun on Tuesday, but prosecutors may have a strong case, legal experts said.ĭetroit police said early on Saturday that the parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, had been taken into custody. More: Attorney: Oxford High School shooter ‘did not know’ victims The shooter’s attorney said Monday that is is unclear if he will be called to the stand, but it is a possibility.
#Michigan school shooter parents charged trial
Ethan Crumbley’s trial was also scheduled to start next January before he changed his not guilty plea to guilty on Monday.ĭefense attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley previously said they would be calling Ethan Crumbley as a witness during the parents’ trial. 24, but that trial has since been rescheduled to begin in January of next year. The Crumbley parents were scheduled to go to trial on Oct. The parents are also being accused of neglecting their son and his cries for help as he appeared to struggle with his mental health prior to the shooting. Parents James and Jennifer Crumbley are accused of buying their son the handgun, teaching him to use it and not storing it securely before the mass shooting. Read more: Transcript: Oxford shooter admits to premeditated murder, terrorism amid prosecutor questioning Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 17-year-old Justin Shilling. While answering questions from prosecutors, Crumbley admitted to premeditated murder of the following four students who were killed in the mass shooting: 14-year-old Hana St. 24, shooter Ethan Crumbley, 16, admitted to bringing a handgun to school on Nov. A court hearing was held Friday as the defense is challenging the validity 30, 2021, in which their son admitted to killing four students and injuring seven other people. The shooter’s parents are each being charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal mass shooting on Nov. James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the Oxford High School shooter, appeared in Friday morning, just days after their son pleaded guilty to all 24 felony charges against him.
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