PONTIAC, Mich. – The father of mass murderer Ethan Crumbley was convicted of manslaughter in Oakland County Circuit Court on Thursday, according to reports.
James Crumbley was found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, making him the second parent in America to be held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting carried out by their son, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Last month, his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of the same crimes. The couple’s son, Ethan Crumbley, pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism last year for the shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, that left four students dead and seven others injured. He is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, reported Law Officer.
Ethan Crumbley, left, pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism last year. His mother, Jennifer Crumbley, center, was found guilty last month on four counts of manslaughter. His father, James Crumbley, right, was found guilty on Thursday of four counts of manslaughter. (Oakland County Sheriff’s Office)
Prosecutors called more than a dozen witnesses, played security video from a gun store and inside the high school, showed revealing text messages and explosive journal entries written just days before the Crumbley parent’s teenage son carried out the deadly rampage.
The murder victims were identified as Justin Shilling, 17, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and 16-year-old Tate Myre.
The weapon used by Ethan was the Sig Sauer 9mm his father, James, purchased with him just four days earlier, reported the Associated Press.
Moreover, Jennifer had taken her son to a shooting range that same weekend.
“You’re the last adult to have possession of that gun,” Oakland County assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said while cross-examining the mother last month. “You saw your son shoot the last practice round before the (school) shooting on Nov. 30. You saw how he stood. … He knew how to use the gun.”
She replied, “Yes, he did.”
Jennifer claimed it was her husband’s responsibility to keep track of the firearm.
In a journal found by police, Ethan wrote that his parents 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,” he wrote.
According to the Detroit Free Press, here are key pieces of evidence the prosecution showed jurors at James’s trial:
- On Nov. 26, 2021, James Crumbley and his son went to an Oxford gun store and bought a Sig Sauer 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
- Two entries in the son’s journal mentioned this gun: “All I need is my 9 mm pistol, which I’m currently begging my dad for.”
- Another journal entry reads: “First off, I got my gun. It’s a Sig Sauer … The shooting is tomorrow. I have access to the gun and ammo.”
- On the same day of the gun purchase, the son posted a photo of the weapon on Instagram, writing: “Just got my new beauty today. SIG SAUER 9mm.”
- On the morning before the school shooting, Ethan Crumbley drew on his geometry worksheet a picture of a gun, a human body bleeding, and the words: ‘My life is useless … Blood everywhere … The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
- Entries in the teen’s journal indicated he was mentally struggling and begging for help., such as: “I have zero help for my mental problems, and it’s causing me to shoot up the f—– school.”
- “I want help, but my parents won’t listen to me, so I can’t get any help.”
- “My parents won’t listen to me about help or a therapist.”
- A text the shooter sent to his friend seven months before the shooting: “I actually asked my dad to take me to the doctor the other day, and he just gave me some pills and said to ‘suck it up.’ “
James showed no emotion other than shaking his head side to side as each of the four guilty verdicts was read in court.
Jennifer will be sentenced April 9. The maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter in Michigan is 15 years. She will receive credit for approximately 30 months of time already served in county jail.
James faces the same punishment. It’s unclear when he will be sentenced.
