Current:Home > ScamsJury to get manslaughter case against Michigan school shooter’s mother -CapitalEdge
Jury to get manslaughter case against Michigan school shooter’s mother
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:07:57
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan jury will get instructions from a judge and begin deliberations Monday in a novel trial against a school shooter’s mother who could go to prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of four students in 2021.
Prosecutors say Jennifer Crumbley was grossly negligent when she failed to tell Oxford High School officials that the family had guns, including a 9 mm handgun that was used by her son, Ethan Crumbley, at a shooting range just a few days earlier.
The school was concerned about a macabre drawing of a gun, bullet and wounded man, accompanied by desperate phrases, on a math assignment. But Ethan was allowed to stay in school on Nov. 30, 2021, following a roughly 12-minute meeting with Jennifer and James Crumbley, who didn’t take him home.
The teenager pulled the gun from his backpack in the afternoon and shot 10 students and a teacher, killing four peers. No one had checked the backpack.
“He literally drew a picture of what he was going to do. It says, ‘Help me,’” prosecutor Karen McDonald said during closing arguments Friday in suburban Detroit.
Jennifer Crumbley knew the gun in the drawing was identical to the new one at home, McDonald said.
“She knew it wasn’t stored properly,” the prosecutor added. “She knew that he was proficient with the gun. She knew he had access to ammunition.”
“Just the smallest steps” by Jennifer Crumbley could have saved the lives of Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin, the prosecutor said.
Defense attorney Shannon Smith told jurors that a conviction would have a chilling effect on unwitting parents whose kids break the law. The tragedy, she argued, was not foreseeable.
Ethan Crumbley was a “skilled manipulator” who didn’t have mental illness, and the gun was the responsibility of James Crumbley, not Jennifer, Smith said.
“Unfortunately this is a case where the prosecution made a charging decision way too fast,” Smith said. “It was motivated by obvious reasons, for political gain and done for media attention.”
She said the case won’t bring justice to the victims or their families: “It certainly doesn’t bring back any lives.”
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, and James Crumbley, 47, are the first parents in the U.S. to be charged in a mass school shooting committed by their child. The latter faces trial in March.
The maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter is 15 years in prison. The Crumbleys have been in jail for more than two years, unable to post $500,000 bond while awaiting trial.
Ethan Crumbley, now 17, pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism and is serving a life sentence.
Besides knowledge of the gun, the Crumbleys are accused of ignoring their son’s mental health needs. In a journal found by police in his backpack, he wrote that they wouldn’t listen to his pleas for help.
“I have zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up the ... school,” Ethan wrote.
___
Follow Ed White on X, formerly Twitter, at https://twitter.com/edwritez
veryGood! (615)
Related
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- 'I like when the deals are spread out': Why holiday shoppers are starting early this year
- The Trainers at Taylor Swift's Go-to Gym Say This Is the No. 1 Workout Mistake
- Americans can order free COVID-19 tests beginning this month
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- Why Kristen Bell's Marriage to Polar Opposite Dax Shepard Works Despite Arguing Over Everything
- Department won’t provide election security after sheriff’s posts about Harris yard signs
- ‘Short corn’ could replace the towering cornfields steamrolled by a changing climate
- Sam Taylor
- The Eagles Las Vegas setlist: All the songs from their Sphere concert
Ranking
- Average rate on 30
- Caitlin Clark, Fever have 'crappy game' in loss to Sun in WNBA playoffs
- NFL Week 3 injury report: Live updates for active, inactive players for Sunday's games
- The Trainers at Taylor Swift's Go-to Gym Say This Is the No. 1 Workout Mistake
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- The Path to Financial Freedom for Hedge Fund Managers: An Exclusive Interview with Theron Vale, Co-Founder of Peak Hedge Strategies
- When House members travel the globe on private dime, families often go too
- 'The Substance' stars discuss that 'beautiful' bloody finale (spoilers!)
Recommendation
Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
FBI finds violent crime declined in 2023. Here’s what to know about the report
The Fed sees its inflation fight as a success. Will the public eventually agree?
Mega Millions winning numbers for September 20; Jackpot now worth $62 million
Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
Boxing training suspended at Massachusetts police academy after recruit’s death
JetBlue flight makes emergency landing in Kansas after false alarm about smoke in cargo area
AIT Community: AlphaStream AI For Your Smart Investment Assistant