The father of a Michigan school shooter who killed four students and injured many has been convicted of manslaughter.
The trial heard that James Crumbley, 47 male, had ignored his 15-year-old son’s mental health needs and often neglected them, and even going to an extent to buy him the handgun he used in the November 2021 attack.
Parents convicted
The jury deliberated for just over a day before coming to the verdict regarding James Crumbley.
Jennifer Crumbley, his wife, is set to be sentenced next month after being convicted on the same charges as James Crumbley.
James Crumbley was in court on Thursday evening, 14th March, for the verdict and appeared to show little reaction as it was read out, giving a cold expression.
The case against the Crumbleys marks the first time parents have been charged with manslaughter over their child’s role in a shooting in the US. Many people say this is a positive change as adults are the ones to supply the arms to the children and hence should be held responsible.
What happened in Michigan shootings?
Their son, Ethan Crumbley, killed fellow students Tate Myre, 16; Hana St Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Justin Shilling, 17 and Seven people were also injured in the shooting.
He is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole, a lengthy sentence for the 15 year old.
Victims’ response
Steve and Ai St Juliana lost their 14-year-old daughter Hana in the incident, who they said was kind and always checked in on others and how they are doing, this is very sad for the parents.
Steve St Juliana, Hana’s father, said on Thursday evening that the prosecution of the Crumbleys was “just the beginning steps” to this when it came to dealing with gun violence in the US, a statement many people across the US agree with.
“Our children are dying on a daily basis in mass murders and we do very little about this,” he said.
“We can put people on the Moon, we can build skyscrapers, huge monuments like the Hoover Dam and we can’t keep our kids safe in schools.”
In February, he told that “every day without Hana is a struggle”.
“She was always laughing, always causing people to laugh,” he recalled.
Prosecutor Karen McDonald, speaking at a press conference with parents of the four victims, said the verdict “does not bring back their children but it does mark a moment of accountability”.
“These parents [the Crumbleys] could have prevented this tragedy with just the smallest of efforts,” she said.
Earlier this week in her closing arguments to the jury of six men and six women, Ms McDonald called school shooting at the Oxford High School “preventable and foreseeable”, calling that the parents could have not brought him a gum to prevent this..
She added that James Crumbley’s actions had been “rare and egregious” while also breaking the law.
“He did not take even the slightest measures to ensure his son was not a threat after giving him a semi-automatic pistol as a gift”, said the prosecutor.
The fact that these parents consider guns and pistols as a gift to a mentally disturbed child id baffling.
Prosecutors also said the Crumbleys had not done enough to address their son’s declining mental health an arguement used against the Crumbleys.
What is the father convicted?
On the morning of the shooting, the father cut short a school meeting about a disturbing drawing their son, Ethan had made to go to work and had declined to take him home.
School officials sent him back to class without checking his backpack , not suspecting anything, The bag contained a gun.
When James Crumbley had heard about the shooting, he rushed home from his job as a DoorDash delivery driver, looking for the weapon – a weapon he gave.
A comment regarding this trial said “His parents should get maximum sentences. Not only did they buy him the gun, when the school recommended them taking Ethan home, they refused. Also, after the shooting, they ran and hid.”
The father’s defence lawyer, Mariell Lehman, argued that “James had no idea that his son was having a hard time” thought this could be neglect.
The father did not testify, unlike his wife, who took the stand during her trial and tried to blame her husband.
Jennifer Crumbley and Ethans father bought the 9mm Sig Sauer pistol their son used just days before the shooting.
Prosecutors said the Crumbleys had also failed to ensure the weapon was safely stored. But, why did the parents give a gun to a mentally disturbed child instead of giving professional help?
“Parents and gun owners have a responsibility to prevent children from accessing deadly weapons,” said Nick Suplina, with the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, in a statement, adding the verdict “further underscores this critical duty of responsible gun ownership”.
The Crumbleys were charged by police within days of the killings itself.
Initially, the parents were supposed to be tried together but in November they both sought separate trials for each other, the reason is unknown.
Both are scheduled to be sentenced on 9 April. A count of manslaughter carries a penalty of up to 15 years. A much less time than their son received even though they were the people who pushed their son to the extreme.
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