Mother Of High School Shooter Found Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter

A jury found Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the teenage gunman who carried out Michigan’s deadliest school shooting, guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the 2021 attack. Ethan Crumbley, then 15 years old, killed four students at his high school with the gun his parents had given him. https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1755028617816392092 From the New York Times:

The trial became a lightning rod for issues of parental responsibility, in a time of frequent cases of gun violence carried out by minors. It was the most high-profile example of prosecutors seeking to hold parents responsible for violent crimes committed by their children.

Ms. Crumbley, 45, was convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each of the four students who were shot to death by her son at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. The son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time, used a pistol to kill Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14. Seven other people were injured. The gun was a gift from his parents.

Testifying in her own defense, Crumbley told the court, “I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have.” https://twitter.com/FrankFigliuzzi1/status/1754948865986269661 During the trial, jurors were shown messages that Ethan sent to a friend in April 2021, complaining of insomnia, paranoia, and hearing voices. There were also messages he’d sent to his mother in which he suggested that their home was haunted by a demon. She and her husband had been called to Ethan’s high school about two hours before the shooting incident after their son wrote disturbing messages on a math worksheet, including the phrases “Blood everywhere,” “My life is useless,” and “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.” After a school counselor expressed concerns about Ethan’s mental health, the parents decided Ethan could stay at school rather than go home. According to reports, they didn’t take the time to search his backpack, where he was carrying the gun that he would soon turn on his schoolmates. Following the shooting, Ethan’s journal was found, wherein he’d written about causing violence amid drawings of guns. He also expressed fears for his own mental health, writing, “My parents won’t listen to me about help or a therapist.” Ms. Crumbley will be sentenced on April 9, where she faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Her husband James will be tried separately in March on the same charges. https://twitter.com/brikeilarcnn/status/1754941001058197757 https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1754945305093513549