Mother of Oxford, Michigan, school shooter found guilty of manslaughter

A jury found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of manslaughter after her son killed four students at a Michigan high school in 2021. The shooter’s father, James Crumbley, is set to go to trial next month.

There have been several other cases in which parents were charged for shootings carried out by their children, though not one in a school mass shooting.

For example, the father of the July 4 mass shooter in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, was accused of wrongdoing for signing his son’s application for an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification card months after his son displayed concerning behavior. The father, Robert Crimo Jr., ultimately pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless conduct charges and agreed to serve 60 days in jail.

In a similar vein, the mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher at a Virginia school last year faced charges. The boy’s mother ultimately pleaded guilty to a state child neglect charge and felony charges of unlawful use of a controlled substance while possessing a firearm and making a false statement while purchasing a firearm.

But, the level of severity in the case of the Crumbleys is different. In a written opinion filed last March, a panel of judges for the state’s appellate court acknowledged the possible precedent-setting nature of these cases but called the situation unique and unusual.

Joey Jackson, a CNN legal analyst, said the prosecution’s broad goal in bringing these cases was to deter other parents.

The jury foreperson in the trial of Jennifer Crumbley — the mother of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021 — said the fact that Crumbley was the last adult seen with the gun before the shooting “really hammered it home.” 

“Lives hung in the balance, and we took that very seriously,” the woman, who identified herself as the foreperson in the courtroom and who read the jury’s verdict, said. She declined to give her name.

She said “both sides were well represented” when asked whether the jurors had to convince each other while deliberating. 

During her closing arguments, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald put up a photo of Jennifer Crumbley leaving the gun range on November 27, 2021, carrying the gun in a case that her son used in the shooting.

“This is the last picture we have of that gun until we see it murder four kids on November 30, and the person holding it is Jennifer Crumbley. She’s the last person we see with that gun,” McDonald said.

James Crumbley, right, speaks with his defense attorney Mariell Lehman during a pretrial hearing on March 22, 2022, in Pontiac, Michigan.

James Crumbley, whose son killed four people in a mass shooting at a Michigan high school in 2021, is set to go to trial on March 5.

He has pleaded not guilty to four charges of involuntary manslaughter for his alleged role in the shooting. It comes after the shooter’s mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty of the same charges on Tuesday.

The evidence and arguments in James Crumbley’s trial may differ. At first, they had been working toward a joint defense, but their cases were separated after their defense learned of a conflict between the two. According to a prosecution filing from last year, Jennifer Crumbley “placed blame” on her husband in the shooting, leading to the split.

Why this is important: In bringing manslaughter charges, prosecutors alleged the gunman’s parents are also responsible for the students’ deaths — a novel and unusual legal theory.

Parents have been charged for their child’s actions before, but not in this specific way, according to Misty Marris, a trial attorney who has followed the case.

Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter Tuesday afternoon.

She pleaded not guilty to all four counts for her role in the November 30, 2021, mass shooting at Oxford High School, which left four students dead and seven other people wounded, including a teacher. 

Here’s what both sides argued during the trial:

Craig Shilling speaks to the media following the reading of Jennifer Crumbley's verdict on Tuesday in Pontiac, Michigan.

Craig Shilling, the father of Justin Shilling, one of the four students killed in the 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School, said the guilty verdict for the mother of the shooter was emotional.

“It was a long time coming, but it’s definitely a step toward accountability,” Shilling told reporters outside the courtroom on Tuesday.

Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter and is set to be sentenced on April 9. Each count carries a maximum punishment of up to 15 years in prison, which would run concurrently. 

He said parents need to address “things at every level” and there’s “no way to look the other way” now. In the case of Jennifer Crumbley, the father said many things could have stopped the shooting before it started.

“You cannot choose to take your own interests over your child, especially when it comes to mental health and addressing, you know, concerns, the problem. Everything about that was disturbing,” Shilling said.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald hugs Craig Shilling after a jury found Jennifer Crumbley guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday at Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Michigan.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald hugged the fathers of Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin before she left the courtroom.

Both 17-year-olds were killed in the mass shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021.

Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Tate Myre, 16, were also killed in the shooting. Six other students and a teacher were injured.

Jennifer Crumbley exits from the courtroom in Oakland County Circuit Court after the jury found her guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday in Pontiac, Michigan.

Jennifer Crumbley, who was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter Tuesday, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9.

Each charge carries a maximum punishment of up to 15 years in prison.

Crumbley’s husband, James, is scheduled to go on trial on the same charges in early March.

Their son Ethan pleaded guilty to one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of murder and 19 other charges related to the deadly rampage. He was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole.

Jennifer Crumbley remained looking down during the verdict. A jury found her guilty of manslaughter following a 2021 Michigan school shooting in which her son killed four students.

There were no audible reactions in the gallery, but there were some tears. Two rows in the gallery were reserved for family of the victims.

Crumbley left the courtroom shackled.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald went to hug two parents of victims before she left the courtroom. A few other prosecutors shook the parents’ hands as well.

Jennifer Crumbley stands to exit the courtroom in Oakland County Circuit Court after the jury found her guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday in Pontiac, Michigan.

Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a trial that stood as a test of the limits of who’s responsible for a school shooting. 

Jennifer Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, a charge that comes with a maximum punishment of up to 15 years in prison for each count. 

As Michigan jurors deliberated on four counts of involuntary manslaughter against Jennifer Crumbley on Monday, they sent two questions separately to the judge.

Here’s what they were:

The jury sent their first question after deliberating for just over two hours: The jury sought for clarification on instructions, asking if there are different ways to convict Crumbley. Judge Cheryl Matthews decided to tell them yes, and referred the jury to re-read part of her instructions, which says “the prosecutor asserts two different theories to support the charges of Involuntary Manslaughter.”

The first theory is that Crumbley committed involuntary manslaughter because she failed to perform a legal duty. The second, is because she was grossly negligent. 

“Those theories are two different ways to prove the same crime. Either or both of these theories, if proven, are sufficient to establish the crime of involuntary manslaughter,” the instructions explain.

The second question came an hour later: The jury asked if they can infer anything from evidence or witnesses that the prosecution did not bring, specifically not bring in the shooter or other people who could answer how specifically Ethan Crumbley got the gun.

Judge Matthews brought the jury in to tell them they can only consider the evidence that was brought in at trial.

Jennifer Crumbley listens on the stand in the courtroom of Oakland County Court in Pontiac, Michigan, on February 2, 2024.

A jury has reached a verdict in the manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021, in a trial that stands as a test of the limits of who’s responsible for a school shooting. 

She faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The verdict will be read in court shortly. 

A jury has reached a verdict in the manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021.

Jennifer Crumbley is on trial for manslaughter in a case that will test the limits of who is responsible for a mass shooting. She pleaded not guilty to four charges of involuntary manslaughter for their alleged roles in her son’s rampage, which left four students dead and seven others wounded. She faces up to 15 years in prison.

Her husband, James, is scheduled to go to trial on the same charges in early March.

In bringing manslaughter charges, prosecutors alleged the gunman’s parents are also responsible for the students’ deaths – a novel and unusual legal theory.

In particular, prosecutors accuse the gunman’s parents of disregarding the risks when they bought a gun for their son four days before the shooting, even though he was struggling with his mental health and contemplating violence. They also say the parents did not mention the gun to school officials in a meeting to discuss Ethan’s disturbing drawings just hours before the fatal shooting.

Ethan Crumbley stands with his attorneys Paulette Loftin, left, and Amy Hopp, on December 8, 2023, in Pontiac, Michigan.

A jury has reached a verdict in the manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021. The verdict will be read soon.

Her son Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December for the shooting, which left another wounding six students and a teacher injured.

In that sentencing, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwamé Rowe dismissed last-minute defense pleas that Crumbley’s life is salvageable and noted that the “defendant in his own words” told the court “this is nobody’s fault but his own.”

Rowe said victim Justin Shilling, 17, was shot at point-blank range after being told by the defendant to get on his knees. Hana St. Juliana, 14, was shot a second time after she was down, he said, “to finish the job by shooting her again.”

“That is an execution. That is torture. He shot most people multiple times. And, as he wrote, he did this for notoriety. And he wanted to go down … as the biggest school shooter in Michigan history.”

Jennifer Crumbley sent several messages criticizing her own parenting ability and discussing how the family’s firearm was secured shortly after her teenage son Ethan carried out a school shooting at his Michigan high school in November 2021, according to messages revealed in court Wednesday.

Jennifer Crumbley wrote the messages as part of a lengthy conversation with Brian Meloche, a firefighter captain who testified he was in an extramarital romantic relationship with her at the time of the shooting.

In several messages shown in court Wednesday, Jennifer Crumbley stated how the firearm used in the shooting was stored and secured.

On the morning of the shooting, she said she had to go to her son’s school because she was worried he “was going to do something dumb,” Meloche testified. He responded by asking where her firearm was, and Jennifer said the gun was in her vehicle, he testified.

However, other testimony has shown that the gun was in Ethan Crumbley’s backpack at school.

Meloche also testified that he recalled telling Jennifer Crumbley to call 911 when she realized the gun was missing. He acknowledged that he deleted these and other messages from Facebook. A prosecutor told the jury that messages that were deleted by him and Crumbley could not be recovered by law enforcement.