PONTIAC, Mich. — On Tuesday, the parents of a Michigan school shooter were each given a minimum of 10 years in prison for not taking actions that could have stopped the killing of four students in 2021.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be found guilty in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were convicted of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors showed evidence of an unsecured gun at home and lack of concern for the teen’s mental health.
Ethan Crumbley drew disturbing images of a gun, a bullet, and a wounded man on a math assignment, along with despairing phrases. Staff at Oxford High School did not insist that he go home but were surprised when the Crumbleys didn’t offer it during a brief meeting.
Later that day, on Nov. 30, 2021, the 15-year-old took out a handgun from his backpack and started shooting at the school. Ethan, now 17, is serving a life sentence for murder and other offenses.
Before sentencing, family members of the students killed in the shooting urged a judge to give the parents 10 years, accusing them of being failures whose self-centeredness resulted in four deaths and a community tragedy.
“The blood of our children is on your hands, too,” said Craig Shilling, wearing a hoodie with his son Justin Shilling's image on his chest.
Nicole Beausoleil, the mother of Madisyn Baldwin, remembered simple things she enjoyed doing for her daughter, like arranging an oil change for her car or helping pick senior year classes.
“While you were buying a gun for your son and leaving it unlocked, I was assisting her in completing her college essays,” Beausoleil told James and Jennifer Crumbley.
Five deputies in the courtroom kept an eye on the Crumbleys, and more lined the walls. They are the first parents found guilty in a U.S. mass school shooting.
Prosecutors said both parents could have prevented the catastrophe with “sadly simple actions.”
The couple underwent separate trials in Oakland County court, 40 miles north of Detroit. Jurors heard about the teen's drawing of a gun, a bullet, and a gunshot victim on a math assignment, accompanied by grim phrases: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me. My life is useless. Blood everywhere.”
Ethan told a counselor he was sad due to a grandmother's death and his only friend moving away, but mentioned that the drawing only reflected his interest in creating video games.
The Crumbleys attended a meeting at the school that lasted less than 15 minutes. They did not disclose that the gun resembled one James Crumbley, 47, had purchased just four days earlier — a Sig Sauer 9 mm that Ethan had described on social media as his “beauty.”
His parents chose not to take him home and instead went back to work, accepting a list of mental health providers. School staff said Ethan could remain on campus. A counselor, Shawn Hopkins, said he thought it would be safer for the boy than possibly being alone at home.
However, no one checked Ethan’s backpack. He retrieved the gun later that day and killed four students — Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Shilling, and Baldwin — and injured seven other people.
No expert witnesses spoke about Ethan's mental state during the trial. However, the judge allowed the jury to view parts of his journal despite objections from the defense.
He wrote, "I don't have any support for my mental issues and it's leading me to consider shooting up the school. I want help but my parents don't listen to me so I can't get any support."
Jennifer Crumbley, 46, told the jury that when asked about Ethan mentioning hallucinations months before the shooting, he was just "fooling around."
During James Crumbley's trial, the prosecutor demonstrated how a cable lock, which was found in a package at home, could have secured the gun.
McDonald said, "It would have taken just ten seconds to do the easiest, simplest thing."
