Father of Michigan school shooter found guilty of manslaughter

James Crumbley, the father of the teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, a month after the shooter’s mother was convicted of the same charges.

James Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, a charge that carries a maximum punishment of up to 15 years in prison, which would run concurrently.

Jury deliberations that concluded Thursday came more than two years after his son, Ethan Crumbley, then 15, used a SIG Sauer 9mm to kill four students and wound six others and a teacher at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021.

James Crumbley is set to be sentenced on April 9 at 9 a.m., the judge said in court. His wife, Jennifer Crumbley, will be sentenced at the same date and time.

Final arguments: Prosecutors in closing arguments Wednesday said James Crumbley was “grossly negligent” because he bought the SIG Sauer 9mm gun for his son days before the attack, failed to properly secure it, ignored his son’s deteriorating mental health, and did not take “reasonable care” to prevent foreseeable danger.

In response, defense attorney Mariell Lehman asserted the prosecution’s case lacked evidence and was based on “assumptions and hindsight.”

“You heard no testimony and you saw no evidence that James had any knowledge that his son was a danger to anyone,” she said.

Testing the limits: The cases against the parents represented a test of the limits of who is responsible for a mass shooting. Prosecutors aiming to expand the scope of blame in mass shootings have used a novel legal strategy by arguing the parents are personally responsible for the deaths because they got their son a gun and ignored signs of his declining mental health.

Parents have previously faced liability for their child’s actions, such as with neglect or firearms charges, but Jennifer Crumbley’s guilty verdict was the first time a school shooter’s parent was held directly responsible for the killings.

Parents welcome verdict:

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Oxford High School is pictured December 7, 2021, in Oxford, Michigan.

Now that the parents of the Michigan school shooter have been found guilty, the father of victim Tate Myre said it’s time to focus on the school’s responsibility and hold the administration accountable.

“The gun is just a tool. So, we got to look at other things other than the gun. We gotta see what we can do to support these kids better,” Buck Myre said Thursday night at a news conference. “We need to solve this because no parents should go through the hell we’re going through.”

He said the nation’s “mental health crisis” was an issue that won’t be easily solved.

“Our kids are not doing well these days,” Myre said.

He suggested that the next step was holding the school accountable for his child’s death.

“It’s time for the school to pony up. It’s time to break up that administration country club, and it’s time for change. Because we’ve got four kids dead and nobody wants to take any accountability,” Myre said. “That needs to start tomorrow.”

CNN’s Sabrina Souza and Aaron Pellish contributed reporting.

This post has been updated with more of Myre’s comments.

Steve St. Juliana, father of Hana St. Juliana, speaks at a press conference March 14.

The father of one of the students killed in a shooting at Oxford High School said the conviction of the shooter and his parents are “just the beginning steps.”

Steve St. Juliana said mass shootings are the “number one killer of our kids,” and called for more action to be taken on the issue. 

“There is so much more that absolutely must be done — it’s crazy,” Juliana said at a news conference Thursday, following the conviction of James Crumbley.

His daughter, Hana St. Juliana, was one of four people killed. Ethan Crumbley is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of murder and 19 other charges related to the deadly rampage.

This was the first case in which a parent of a US school shooter was held directly responsible for the killings.

The post was updated with more of St. Juliana’s comments.

Flowers are placed at a memorial outside of Oxford High School on December 3, 2021, in Oxford, Michigan.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald pointed to the “egregious facts” of the case, saying Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley’s parents — James and Jennifer who are now both convicted — could have “prevented this tragedy, that was foreseeable, with just the smallest of efforts.”

“They could have prevented this shooting, and saved these kids’ lives, and protected the hundreds of kids in the school that day, and all of the members of the Oxford community that it devastated, with just basic, reasonable, ordinary care,” McDonald said.

She added that the conviction of the Crumbleys is not the end.

“The three prosecutions and convictions are critical,” McDonald said. “But we will not solve gun violence with these three prosecutions.”

This post has been updated with more details from the news conference.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald speaks at a press conference on March 14.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald called the conviction of James Crumbley Thursday “important” and “critical.”

But the prosecution will not solve gun violence, she said at a Thursday news conference.

Gun violence is “a public health crisis,” said McDonald, arguing that the issue will not be addressed until it is treated as such.

“I refuse to take a victory lap with these prosecutions,” McDonald said. “It will not bring back these kids. We have a lot more work to do.”

The post and headline have been updated with more comments from the prosecutor.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald thanked the families of the students killed at Oxford High School, shortly after the father of the shooter was convicted of manslaughter.

“This verdict does not bring back their children, but it does mark a moment of accountability, and will hopefully be another step to address, and end, and prevent gun violence,” she said at a news conference Thursday.

Justin Shilling, Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre and Madisyn Baldwin were killed in the shooting. Both of the gunman’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were found guilty on four counts, one for each of the victims. Jennifer Crumbley was convicted in February.

McDonald also thanked other attorneys in her office and law enforcement partners who she said were “devoted and dedicated” to the case.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald speaks at a press conference on March 14.

Prosecutors are holding a news conference after a jury convicted James Crumbley, the father of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley.

He was convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter — the same charges in the same jurisdiction that the shooter’s mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of in February.

These are the first cases in the United States in which a jury found a parent guilty over a mass school shooting their child committed.

Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, and her attorney will not participate in interviews following the guilty conviction of her husband, James, on Thursday.

“We believe the victims, their families, and the community need and deserve the space and time to begin healing from this tragedy,” Jennifer’s attorney, Shannon Smith said in a statement.

Clockwise from top left, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin and Tate Myre were killed in the shooting in November 2021.

James Crumbley’s failure to act led to the deaths of four children at Oxford High School, the county’s prosecutor said after Crumbley was convicted on Thursday.

“Four children are dead because of the gross negligence of the shooter’s parents. In Michigan, a parent has a legal duty and James Crumbley did not meet that duty,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a statement after the verdict.

James Crumbley and the shooter’s mother were both convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Each count was for each of the students killed in the shooting. 

“I know this verdict will not bring them back, but I hope it will serve as an example of the importance of holding those who enable gun violence accountable,” she said.

James Crumbley exits the courtroom in handcuffs on March 14.

The conviction of James Crumbley, the father of a teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, is what CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson called “tremendously significant in so many ways.”

He said Crumbley’s guilty conviction of involuntary manslaughter could set a precedent for other courts across the country to hold the parents of shooters accountable in their jurisdictions as well.

“From a big picture perspective, it’s not a surprising verdict but I think it’s a verdict that nowadays is going to be used as a tool by prosecutors and very effectively I would think in order to deter this type of conduct moving forward,” Jackson told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

The families of the students killed during a mass shooting at Oxford High School were crying in the courtroom as the father of the shooter was convicted Thursday of involuntary manslaughter.

A jury found James Crumbley, the father of shooter Ethan Crumbley, guilty on all four counts — one for each of the four students his son murdered.

Some of those families, including the parents of Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St. Juliana, and Justin Shilling, hugged the lead prosecutor after the verdict.

James Crumbley, the father of the teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, was found guilty Thursday on four counts of involuntary manslaughter. His sentencing is set for April 9, the judge said in court.

Jennifer Crumbley, his wife who was also found guilty of the same charges last month, will be sentenced on that same date and time.

James was shackled and escorted out of the courtroom after the verdict was read and affirmed by each juror. 

James Crumbley listens to the verdict being read on March 14.

James Crumbley, the father of the teenager who killed four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a trial that comes a month after the shooter’s mother was convicted of the same charges. 

James Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, a charge that carries a maximum punishment of up to 15 years in prison, which would run concurrently.

The cases against the shooter’s parents stood as a test of the limits of who’s responsible for a school shooting. 

The judge confirmed in court that a gag order imposed on attorneys will be lifted.

This post was updated with the judge’s ruling on a gag order.

A jury has reached a verdict in the involuntary manslaughter trial of James Crumbley, and we’re waiting for their verdict to be read in court. A jury found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of manslaughter after her son killed four students at a Michigan high school in 2021.

There have been several other cases before 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 shooter Ethan Crumbley’s parents 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.

A jury has reached a verdict in the involuntary manslaughter trial of James Crumbley, the father of the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021, in a trial that comes a month after the shooter’s mother was convicted of the same charges. 

He faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter. 

The jury of 12 had to be unanimous in their decision. The verdict will be read in court shortly.   

James Crumbley is on trial after his wife and son have already been convicted.

Ethan Crumbley, the teenager who killed four students at an Oxford, Michigan, high school in 2021, 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.

He did not testify in this trial, as his attorneys said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to silence.

Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty in February of all four counts of involuntary manslaughter in a novel legal case that stood as a test of the limits of who’s responsible for a school shooting. She faces up to 15 years in prison, and her sentencing hearing was set for April 9.

She has been behind bars since her arrest in a Detroit warehouse days after the shooting.

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

This is what the prosecution said during the trial of Ethan Crumbley’s mother:

“Jennifer Crumbley didn’t pull the trigger that day, but she is responsible for those deaths,” Oakland County assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said in the trial’s opening statements.

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.

James Crumbley exits the courtroom in Pontiac, Michigan, while the jury begins deliberations in his manslaughter trial on March 13.

In closing arguments of James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial Wednesday, prosecutors argued he was responsible for his son’s mass shooting at his Michigan high school because he was “grossly negligent,” while the defense said the prosecution’s case lacked needed evidence.