PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan jury found Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a school shooter, guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday. This unique trial aimed to determine if she bore any responsibility in the deaths of four students in 2021.
Prosecutors argued that Crumbley was grossly negligent and could have anticipated the violence before her son opened fire at Oxford High School. They claimed that she failed to inform school officials about the family’s newly acquired 9mm handgun, which her son ultimately used to kill other teens. Furthermore, Crumbley was accused of not securing the gun at home and neglecting her son’s mental health needs.
On the morning of the shooting, a concerned school staff took note of a disturbing drawing on the 15-year-old shooter’s math assignment. Despite this, Ethan Crumbley was allowed to remain in school after a brief meeting with his parents, who did not take him home. Later that day, the teen retrieved the handgun from his backpack and shot 10 students and a teacher, resulting in the deaths of four students.
The gun had been purchased just four days earlier on Black Friday by his father, James Crumbley, with Jennifer Crumbley taking her son to a shooting range that same weekend. While testifying, Crumbley claimed that she would not have done anything differently but expressed regret that her son didn’t kill them instead. She also denied that he had mental health issues.
Ethan Crumbley, who is now 17, has already been sentenced to life in prison for murder and terrorism. His father, James Crumbley, is scheduled for trial in March on the same involuntary manslaughter charges.
The jury overseeing the trial included individuals with personal experience with guns, and at one point sought clarification from the judge about inferring evidence not presented by the prosecutors. The judge instructed them to only consider the evidence admitted in the case.
It is worth mentioning that Crumbley and her husband are the first parents in the U.S. to be charged in connection to a mass school shooting committed by their child. James Crumbley is facing trial in March, and Jennifer Crumbley, 45, testified that she saw no signs of mental distress in her son.