Jennifer Crumbley verdict: Parents of school shooting victims react as killer’s mother is found guilty
Jennifer Crumbley is scheduled to be sentenced on 9 April
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A Michigan jury found Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter, guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
The jury reached its unanimous verdict after 10 hours of deliberation. Ms Crumbley sat in court, unemotionally, as the verdict was read.
She had pleaded not guilty. The 45-year-old’s husband, James Crumbley, is being tried separately in March.
In December, Ethan Crumbley was convicted of killing four of his classmates and injuring seven others on 30 November 2021.
The prosecution has accused her of neglecting her son’s “downward spiral” and making a gun accessible in their home.
The defence rested its case on Friday after the defendant took the stand. Ms Crumbley’s attorney delivered strange closing arguments, in which she compared herself to Ms Crumbley as “messy” working moms.
The prosecution argued that Ms Crumbley could have taken “tragically small” steps that could have prevented her son from shooting up his school. The prosecutors mentioned that the mother bought her son a gun days before the shooting, recognized that he was “acting depressed” and spent a lot of time alone.
The trial has been chock-full of revelations: an extramarital affair, a shocking admission, and a Taylor Swift reference.
She will be sentenced on 9 April.
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Verdict reached
The 12 jurors have reached a verdict in a landmark case.
Jennifer Crumbley was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. She pleaded not guilty.
The jurors were handed the case on Monday. They have been deliberating for nearly 10 hours.
A verdict is expected to be announced soon.
Jennifer Crumbley found guilty
A Michigan jury has found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of manslaughter in the Oxford High School shooting, after she bought her teenage son a firearm and ignored multiple warning signs about his disturbing behaviour in the lead-up to the deadly attack.
Jurors reached the verdict on Tuesday morning after deliberating for more than 10 hours.
Crumbley, 45, had pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter in the case.
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What charges does Jennifer Crumbley face?
Ms Crumbley faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter after her son shot and killed four of his classmates in November 2021.
She pleaded not guilty but was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday afternoon after 10 hours of deliberation.
The maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter is 15 years in prison.
They began deliberating on Monday morning after hearing nearly two weeks of testimony from school officials, law enforcement experts, acquaintances of Ms Crumbley and the defendant herself.
Sentencing date scheduled
Ms Crumbley’s sentencing is slated for 9 April.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Jennifer Crumbley’s texts to her lover revealed in court
Brian Meloche, a long-time friend of Ms Crumbley, told the court about his relationship with the convicted shooter’s mother, who is now on trial facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter in a landmark trial about parental responsibility. She has pleaded not guilty.
After her son Ethan Crumbley opened fire inside the Michigan high school, Ms Crumbley texted Mr Meloche that the massacre “could have been prevented,” according to a message revealed in court.
Other texts showed her describing the school’s response to Ethan’s disturbing behaviour – such as drawing a doodle of a mass shooting or searching online for ammunition – as “nonchalant”.
On the morning before the shooting, school administrators had called in the Crumbleys to discuss their son’s recent behaviour. The school staff gave the Crumbleys a choice: to take their 15-year-old home that day or to let him stay in school.
They chose to keep him in school, both allegedly citing that they had jobs to return to. Despite telling school officials she had to return to work, Ms Crumbley had actually messaged Mr Meloche, saying that she could meet up with him, he testified.
Read the full story...
Jennifer Crumbley’s ex-lover reveals damning text messages at trial
After she allegedly refused to take her son out of school on the morning of the shooting, Jennifer Crumbley texted Brian Meloche saying that she could meet up with him, he testified
ICYMI: What happened at the Jennifer Crumbley trial?
In closing arguments, the prosecution stressed that Crumbley could have taken “tragically small” steps that would have prevented the shooting.
Oakland Prosecutor Karen McDonald argued that Crumbley could have stopped by their home to check the gun was where it should have been following the meeting at the high school. She could have locked the gun away out of reach of her son, she could have taken him home from school, she could have taken him to work, she could have told the school that they had gifted him a gun.
Noting that Crumbley “didn’t engage” with her son during the school meeting, the prosecutor said the mother could have simply told her son then: “I care about you, I love you.”
Defence attorney Shannon Smith argued in her closing arguments that Crumbley is “not a perfect person or a perfect parent” and that the events that transpired could not have been anticipated.
Ms Smith asked the court: “Can parents really be responsible for everything their children do? Especially when it’s not foreseeable?”
She continued, “It was unforeseeable. No one expected this. No one could have expected this — including Mrs Crumbley.”
Crumbley took the stand last week to deliver a rather unemotional testimony — except when she discussed her son or the shooting that he committed.
“That was the hardest thing I had to stomach – that my child harmed and killed other people,” Crumbley said, stumbling over the last few words and uttering them quietly.
When asked if she would change what had happened if she could, Crumbley said, “Oh absolutely. I wish he would’ve killed us instead.”
Kris Brown, president of gun safety group Brady, issues a statement
“A jury has found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter. This ruling means that she is criminally responsible for facilitating the massacre at Oxford High School by failing to block her son’s access to the murder weapon – and safely store the firearm – despite indicators of imminent violence. Irresponsible behavior like Jennifer Crumbley exhibited is why 76% of school shooters under the age of 18 get their firearms from home. The consequences are irreparable, and the families of the children killed in this brutal attack will never again get to hold their children close and watch them grow.
“This verdict will not bring back the children killed or heal the wounds of those injured, but it does bring a shed of justice for the families who were so egregiously wronged. Today’s decision sends a powerful message to parents and other parties that they can be responsible for their actions that foreseeably contribute to gun violence even if they don’t pull the trigger.”
White House's remarks on verdict
Karine Jean Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, said in a statement on Tuesday:
“We saw the breaking news just not too long ago....without speaking specifically, on today’s verdict, we want to be really careful here. I can say that the President remains committed to stop tragedies like these happening in the first place. … Students who carry carry out K-12 school shootings are using firearms they obtain from home from a friend or family member. We know that to be true.
T”he importance of safe firearm storage cannot be overstated. And the administration will continue to use every tool at our disposal to implement these and other common sense gun safety measures to protect our children, our schools and our communities. Look, when it comes to when it comes to gun violence, the president has said this is an epidemic. It is the number one killer of our kids.
“We’ve done more than two dozen executive actions … He signed … bipartisan legislation to deal with gun violence, legislation that hasn’t passed in 30 years. So he takes this very seriously. We do not want to continue to see and our kids being the number one killer, it shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be.”