[Ammi]

The mother of a school shooter who killed four students at a school in the US has been convicted in a landmark case.

Jennifer Crumbley, 45, was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter and faces 15 years in prison for each charge.

Her son Ethan was 15 when he opened fire at Oxford High School, in Michigan in November 2021, killing 14-year-old Hana St Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling and injuring seven other people.

The first-of-its-kind case against Jennifer Crumbley was brought by prosecutors who said she had a duty to prevent her son from harming others.

She was, they said, grossly negligent and could have foreseen the violence.

Ms Crumbley was also accused of failing to secure a gun and ammunition at her home and failing to get help for her son's mental health issues.

James Crumbley, 47, bought their son the gun, a 9mm handgun, he used in the shooting, prosecutors said, even though he was too young to own his own gun under state law.

The weapon was purchased four days earlier - apparently as a Christmas present - and was "freely available" to the teenager.

He brought the weapon to school on the day of the shooting, though no one checked his rucksack.

Ethan is said to have posted images of the gun used in the shooting on social media, writing: "Just got my new beauty today" and adding a heart emoji, Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said during the trial.

Mrs Crumbley posted the next day that they were "testing out his new Christmas present".

They were also guilty of ignoring warning signs before their son's rampage, such as concerning drawings found at his school desk, prosecutors said.

On the day of the shooting, a teacher had found a note on Ethan's desk with a drawing of a gun pointing at the words "the thoughts won't stop. Help me."

They took a photo of the note, which also included a drawing of a person who had been shot twice with the words "blood everywhere", "my life is useless" and "the world is dead" on it.

Mr and Mrs Crumbley were called in to the school at 10am and, when they left, Ethan went back to class, carrying the weapon in a backpack, investigators said.

The shooting happened around 1pm.

His parents were charged a few days later, after police found them, they said, "hiding in a building in Detroit".

In December last year, Ethan Crumbley was jailed for life without parole after pleading guilty to murder, terrorism and other charges.

At his sentencing, he told a judge that he was a "really bad person" who could not stop himself.

James Crumbley is scheduled to go on trial in March on the same charges as his wife.


https://uk.yahoo.com/news/michigan-s...185500115.html

[bitontheslide]

if it makes parents even a little more vigilant over their kids then it can only be a good thing. Thats my takeaway from it more than anything else

[Ammi]

Ethan Crumbley: Parents of teenager who shot dead four classmates in the US jailed for manslaughter


The parents of a US teenager who shot four classmates dead have been jailed for at least 10 years for manslaughter.

Ethan Crumbley is serving life in prison for murder after killing four students at Oxford High School, near Detroit in Michigan, in November 2021, when he was 15.

His parents had given him the weapon he used as a Christmas present.

The Crumbleys are the first parents to be convicted of manslaughter in a child's school shooting.


…full article…

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/ethan-crum...140100128.html

[Ninastar]

Good. Do this to all of them.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Way too much text and no images

[bitontheslide]

it's a pretty long sentence, but i think these parents were a really pair. Not only did they fail to parent their kid properly, they did a runner when the police wanted to interview them

[thesheriff443]

It’s the right decision, it’s just a shame the shooter didn’t pull the trigger on himself rather than his innocent victims.

[Soldier Boy]

It should always have been the way. Not in every case - in some cases I can believe that non-negligent parents genuinely had no idea what their kid was planning - but in others... you see pictures of the bedrooms, the sheer volume of violent writing/drawing freely on display... the guns/knives fully on display... and yeah, the adults in those people's lives definitely have a big slice of the blame for any harm that's been done.

[Mystic Mock]

If he has mental health issues, then obviously it's irresponsible of the parents to have given him a Gun.

The sentence is correct imo.

[Ammi]

…I absolutely think that the sentence was correct for this case and did ‘fit the crime’…because it wasn’t just about whether such an horrific loss of life could have been prevented, it was also enabling of the tragedy to happen…Ethan was too young under state law to own the weapon that his parents ‘gifted’ him anyway…there were no ‘home/owning restrictions’ either, placed on his handling of the weapon…it wasn’t locked away and he was able to just freely take it into his school…they may have lost their freedom for many, many years…but 4 families have lost their children forever because it was their actions that made it possible for their son to take those lives…against all law, they placed a death weapon into the hands of a child who had displayed very concerning behaviour through his young life…