A Michigan jury finished an earlier panel’s work on Thursday, finding the father a school shooter Ethan Crumbley just as guilty as the 15-year-old’s mother of ignoring signs the boy was in trouble before he took the gun his parents gave his as an early Christmas present and murder four of his classmates.
James Crumbley was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, the same as his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, last month. Both will be sentenced on April 6, the Detroit News reported.
Last year, Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty gunning down his Oxford High School classmates and was sentenced to life in prison, as CrimeOnline previously reported. The parents were charged with involuntary manslaughter for neglecting to get their son mental health treatment and for buying him a gun days before the shooting. Both adult Crumbleys pleaded not guilty and now face up to 15 years in prison.
Crumbley murdered Madisyn Baldwin, 16; Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14; on November 30, 2021. On the morning of the shooting. school officials called the parents in over concerning drawings a teacher found in his possession. But the parents wanted him sent back to class and no one searched his backpack for the gun. And that wasn’t the first signs of trouble.
“How many times does this kid have to say it (help me)?” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in her closing argument this week. “That isn’t enough. He writes the words ‘Help me’ on a piece of paper.”
After the shooting, when police were searching for them, the Crumbleys fled to a friend’s in Detroit and hid until police located them. They denied they were hiding and said they intended to surrender.
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[Featured image: Oakland County Sheriff’s Office via AP]
