Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, each will spend the next 10-15 years in prison in Tuesday’s first-of-its-kind penalty. Per NPR, both parents were found guilty in separate trials on four counts of involuntary manslaughter; each of those charges carried a maximum penalty of 15 years, and the sentences are to be served concurrently.
James Crumbley, 47, and wife Jennifer, 46, 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. 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 happened on Nov. 30, 2021.
Ethan Crumbley used a semi-automatic pistol to open fire on his classmates in 2022; Ethan, now 17, pleaded guilty as an adult to the four murders, terrorism and related charges in the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit, and was sentenced in December to life in prison without parole. Jennifer and James Crumbley had bought the firearm for him for target shooting.
As Judge Cheryl Matthews handed down the ruling in Pontiac, Mich., she noted to the courtroom the 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 .. Opportunity knocked over and over again and was ignored. No one answered.”
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