Michigan Jury Finds School Shooter’s Mother ‘Guilty’ of Involuntary Manslaughter
Ethan’s mother, Jennifer, was found ‘guilty’ of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. She will be sentenced in April. James Crumbley, Ethan’s father, has also been charged with four counts of manslaughter and awaits trial.
Prosecutors suggested Jennifer could have stopped the shooting before it happened when she arrived at Oxford High on the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, to meet with school counselors after Ethan was caught scrawling disturbing notes in class. School staff may have also been able to prevent the shooting.
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A Michigan jury on Tuesday found Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in her historic criminal trial.
Jennifer and her husband, James Crumbley, were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting that left four students dead and seven others injured on Nov. 30, 2021. Jennifer will be sentenced on April 9.
James Crumbley is being tried separately. The Crumbleys are the first parents in U.S. history to stand trial for a mass school shooting.
“As a parent, you spend your whole life trying to protect your child from other dangers,” Jennifer Crumbley said on the witness stand Thursday while answering questions from the defense. “You never would think you’d have to protect your child from harming someone else. That’s what blew my mind. That was the hardest thing I had to stomach is that my child harmed and killed other people.”
Her defense team argued that she did not know her son was planning a school shooting and therefore shouldn’t be held accountable for Ethan’s crimes.
Meanwhile, the prosecution argued that Ethan’s many cries for help went ignored and that the then-15-year-old carried out the shooting using the gun his parents allegedly purchased for him as a gift.
Jennifer’s attorney, Shannon Smith, said the prosecution “cherry-picked evidence” to accuse Jennifer of involuntary manslaughter.
“It’s obvious real life is messy and complicated. And during this trial, I will openly admit that I’m a lawyer who messes up. … I am a human being, and so is Mrs. Crumbley, and that’s what this case is about. She’s not a perfect person or a perfect parent,” Smith said in her closing statements.
Smith added that the shooting “was clearly not foreseeable to Mrs. Crumbley.”
Prosecutors suggested Jennifer could have stopped the shooting before it happened when she arrived at Oxford High on the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, to meet with school counselors after Ethan was caught scrawling disturbing notes in class.
Detroit Free Press: https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/nancy-kaffer/2024/02/06/jennifer-crumbley-guilty-verdict-oxford-school-shooting/72495687007/