Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Judge Sentences Parents Of Michigan School Shooter To 10-15 Years In Prison

James and Jennifer Crumbley made history Tuesday as the first parents to be convicted and sentenced concerning their child’s school shooting that resulted in the death of four students at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021, according to NBC News.

The Crumbleys were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March after the prosecution argued the parents showed a “significant lack of remorse” and James Crumbley threatened the prosecuting attorney Karen McDonald, according to CNN. Judge Cheryl Matthews ordered that both James and Jennifer Crumbley be sentenced to 10 to 15 years after the prosecution requested the maximum 15-year sentences for both defendants, according to NBC News.

Ethan Crumbley was 15 when he shot and killed four students and injured seven others in November 2021 and later he was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of felony firearm. The prosecution in James and Jennifer’s cases argued that both parents had been willfully negligent regarding their son and that James Crumbley buying the murder weapon made him complicit.

During their sentencing, James and Jennifer Crumbley apologized to the families of their son’s victims, according to CNN.

“I sit here today to express my deepest sorrows for the families of Hana, Tate, Madisyn, Justin and to all those affected on November 30, 2021,” Jennifer Crumbley said.

“I want to say I can’t imagine the pain and agony … for the families that have lost their children and what they are experiencing and what they are going through,” James Crumbley said in his statement. “As a parent, our biggest fear is losing our child or our children, and to lose a child is unimaginable. My heart is really broken for everybody involved.”