Michigan: A Michigan jury on Tuesday (local time) convicted the mother of a Michigan teenager, who shot dead four of his classmates at a high school near Detroit in 2021, of manslaughter after prosecutors argued she bore responsibility because she and her husband gave their son a gun and ignored warning signs of violence. Ethan Crumbley, now 21, was sentenced to life imprisonment last year after a court described his actions as a "true act of terrorism".
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, was found guilty after a trial believed to be the first time that a parent faced a manslaughter charge in the United States stemming from a school shooting by a child. She was facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one of each student killed at Oxford High School and was convicted on all four.
Jennifer showed little reaction to the verdict in the courtroom and is facing up to 15 years in prison. An April 9 sentencing date was scheduled. Her husband, James Crumbley, 47, is set to face his own trial on manslaughter charges starting March 5. Their son Ethan pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, which happened when he was 15, and other charges.
The United States, a country with persistent gun violence, has experienced a series of school shootings over the years, often carried out by current or former students. Gun safety experts have said they hope this case spurs parents who own guns to better secure weapons, noting that government research shows three-fourths of school shooters in recent years obtained the firearms they used in their own homes.
What did Jennifer Crumbley say?
Prosecutors of Oakland County argued that Jennifer Crumbley, even though she did not pull the trigger, stored the gun and ammunition in a negligent manner and should be held criminally responsible for the deaths. She and her husband were aware that Ethan was mentally in a "downward spiral" and posed a danger to others but allowed him access to firearms, including the handgun he used to shoot his classmates, they added.
Shannon Smith, the attorney for Jennifer Crumbley, argued that she was not responsible for buying or storing the gun used by her son in the shootings, that she had no real warning signs that he would kill his classmates and that she could not have reasonably foreseen that the crime would take place.
In her defence, Jennifer said her husband was responsible for securely storing firearms in the family home and that while her son had been anxious about getting into college and what he would do with his life, she did not think his problems merited seeing a psychiatrist. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald told jurors during closing arguments on February 2 that Jennifer Crumbley had "done the unthinkable."
According to prosecutors, James Crumbley purchased the handgun used in the crime four days before the November 30, 2021, shootings. On the morning of the shootings, a teacher discovered drawings by Ethan Crumbley depicting a handgun, a bullet and a bleeding figure next to the words "Blood everywhere," "My life is useless," and "The thoughts won't stop - help me."
The Crumbleys, summoned to the school that morning, were told that Ethan needed counseling and they needed to take him home, according to prosecutors. But the couple resisted taking their son home and did not search his backpack or ask him about the gun, prosecutors said. Ethan was returned to class and later walked out of a bathroom with the gun and began firing, according to prosecutors.
What happened in 2021?
Crumbley shot dead Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling with a semi-automatic handgun his father bought him as a Christmas gift a few days before the shocking incident that rattled the US. Six other students and a teacher were wounded in the shooting. Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe rejected defense lawyers' request for the possibility of parole given the severity of the situation.
His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the incident, marking one of the first US cases that seeks to hold parents accountable for their child's activities. Ethan also addressed the judge shortly before the verdict was announced, taking responsibility for his actions and promising to work on becoming a better person regardless of his sentence.
Defense lawyers mentioned his deteriorating mental health as a result of negligence by his parents, causing him to keep a gun in his backpack. He reportedly kept a journal in which he wrote about his desire to see students suffer and contemplated his chances of imprisonment.
(with inputs from agencies)
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