James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the teenager who killed four classmates in a mass shooting at Oxford High School in 2021, were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison on Tuesday.
The Crumbleys were charged with four counts of voluntary manslaughter for the deaths of Justin Shilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; and Hana St. Juliana, 14.
The Crumbleys bought their then-15-year-old son, Ethan Crumbley, a gun as a Christmas gift, despite numerous signs that he was troubled and depressed. He used the gun to kill four of his classmates and wound seven others in November 2021.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews said she exceeded the sentencing guidelines, in part, because the parents continue to defend their actions leading up to the shooting.
“Parents are not expected to be psychic, but the convictions are not about poor parenting,” Matthews told the Crumbleys during sentencing. “These convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted a runaway train.”
Prosecutors alleged the parents knew their son had been troubled for years when they bought him the gun. They also failed to divulge that their son had a gun when they were called to the school after a teacher found a note that included a drawing of a gun, blood, and the words, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
Instead of taking their son home for the day, they urged school officials to keep him in class.
Before sentencing, Jennifer Crumbley, wearing a black-and-white striped jail uniform, diminished the role she played in her son’s actions and accused prosecutors of unfairly maligning her and her husband.
“I’ve been criticized that I don’t show emotion, I’m not sympathetic, I don’t cry enough,” Crumbley said. “But alone I grieve. If you were to look into me internally, you would find I have died from the inside. I will be in my own internal prison for the rest of my life.”
Ethan Crumbley was charged as an adult with first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Dec. 8. He also pleaded guilty to injuring six other students and a teacher. During his sentencing, he was soft-spoken and apologetic and called for the maximum penalty.
Before his sentencing, James Crumbley, wearing an orange jumpsuit, stood up, removed his glasses, and read a written statement addressed to the families of the victims.
“I am sorry for your loss as a result of what my son did,” James Crumbley said. “I cannot express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him or what was going to happen because I absolutely would have done a lot of things differently.”
The Crumbleys were given credit for the more than 850 days they have already served in jail.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald asked the judge to exceed the sentencing guidelines because of the “devastating impact of their gross negligence that was foreseeable.”
“We don’t give power or authority to victims to decide or render a verdict,” McDonald told the judge before sentencing. “But we should not and cannot sanitize their pain or the weight of the impact.”
Steve Neavling
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