Washington: A Michigan mother was found guilty of manslaughter on Tuesday in connection with a school mass shooting carried out by her teenage son, marking a landmark case that has drawn significant attention.
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, and her husband James, 47, are the first parents of a school shooter in the United States to face felony manslaughter charges for their child’s actions.
Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of all four counts of involuntary manslaughter after a jury in Pontiac, Michigan, deliberated for about a day and a half. She is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9 and could face up to 15 years in prison, while her husband’s trial is set for March.
Their 17-year-old son, Ethan Crumbley, is already serving a life sentence for the shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021, which resulted in the deaths of four students.
The Crumbleys had purchased the 9mm SIG Sauer handgun used in the attack and were accused of disregarding warnings about their son’s mental health struggles.
During closing arguments, prosecutor Karen McDonald argued that Jennifer Crumbley had failed to take basic precautions that could have prevented the tragedy.
“She could have locked the ammunition. She could have locked the gun,” McDonald said. “She could have informed the school that they had just given him a gun. She could have informed the school about her son’s previous crises and sought help.”
Defense attorney Shannon Smith countered that Crumbley cannot be held responsible for her son’s actions.
“No one could have anticipated this,” Smith said. “Can every parent truly be held accountable for everything their children do?”
“This case sets a dangerous precedent for parents,” she added.
During her trial, Crumbley testified that her husband had bought the gun for their son just days before the attack as an early Christmas present, and she had taken him to a shooting range the following day.
She claimed that her husband was responsible for storing the weapon at their home, and it was intended for her son’s use at the shooting range only.
Crumbley said she never believed her son capable of such violence.
“I wish he had killed us instead,” she said.
The Crumbleys were summoned to the school on the day of the shooting after a teacher discovered a violent drawing on Ethan’s desk. Despite being advised to seek counseling for their son, they allegedly resisted taking him home, and he later returned to class and carried out the attack.
With numerous incidents of firearms violence involving young people, there has been increasing pressure in the United States to hold parents accountable for enabling their children to access weapons.
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