In a first-of-its-kind ruling, Jennifer Crumbley has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the school shooting her son carried out.
Crumbley’s son Ethan, who was 15 at the time, fatally shot four students at an Oxford, Michigan high school in 2021 using a weapon reportedly given to him his parents. According to court proceedings, Crumbley was also the last person seen with the weapon immediately before the shooting incident occurred.
BREAKING: Jennifer Crumbley has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the first parent in America be charged and tried in a mass school shooting. https://t.co/fG7GI34PsE pic.twitter.com/UodoFkJ6tw
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) February 6, 2024
The base of the prosecution’s argument was rooted in the theory that Crumbley was “grossly negligent” and responsible for the deaths of the students because she gave a gun to Ethan—despite warning signs he needed mental health treatment.
While Crumbley, who faces up to 15 years in prison, will stand her sentencing hearing on April 9, her husband, James Crumbley, won’t stand on those same charges until early March. Last December, Ethan was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death.
Watch the report below for details of the historic case below.
Jennifer Crumbley is the first parent in the U.S. to go on trial for a mass school shooting committed by her son. She’s accused of failing to get him proper mental health treatment despite warning signs and for purchasing the gun he used in the shooting, @Elaine_Quijano reports. pic.twitter.com/Fen8qW5itK
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 6, 2024