School shooter's parents sentenced to at least 10 years in prison

James Crumbley, defense lawyer Mariell Lehman, Jennifer Crumbley and defense lawyer Shannon Smith await sentencing.

By Ed White

April 9, 2024 11:09 AM PT

PONTIAC, Mich. — The parents of a Michigan school shooter were each sentenced to at least 10 years in prison Tuesday for failing to take steps that could have prevented the killing of four students in 2021.

Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting. They were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors presented evidence of an unsecured gun at home and indifference toward the teen shooter’s mental health.

Ethan Crumbley drew dark images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math assignment, accompanied by despondent phrases. Staff at Oxford High School did not demand that he go home but were surprised when the Crumbleys didn’t volunteer it during a brief meeting.

Later that day, on Nov. 30, 2021, the 15-year-old pulled a handgun from his backpack and began shooting at the school. Ethan Crumbley, now 17, is serving a life sentence for murder and other crimes.

Before sentencing, family members of the students killed in the shooting asked the judge to sentence the parents to 10 years, condemning them as failures whose selfishness led to four deaths and a community tragedy.

“The blood of our children is on your hands too,” said Craig Shilling, wearing a hoodie with the image of son Justin on his chest.

Nicole Beausoleil, the mother of Madisyn Baldwin, recalled simple things she enjoyed doing for her daughter, such as scheduling an oil change for her car or helping choose senior year classes.

“While you were purchasing a gun for your son and leaving it unlocked, I was helping her finish her college essays,” Beausoleil told James and Jennifer Crumbley.

Five deputies in the courtroom stood watch over the Crumbleys and more lined the walls.

Prosecutors said “tragically simple actions” by both parents could have stopped the catastrophe.

The couple had separate trials in Oakland County court, 40 miles north of Detroit. Jurors heard how the teen had drawn a gun, a bullet and a gunshot victim on a math assignment, accompanied by grim phrases: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me. My life is useless. Blood everywhere.”

Ethan Crumbley told a counselor he was sad — a grandmother had died and his only friend suddenly had moved away — but said the drawing only reflected his interest in creating video games.

The Crumbleys attended a meeting at the school that lasted less than 15 minutes. They did not mention that the gun resembled one James Crumbley, 47, had purchased four days earlier — a 9-millimeter Sig Sauer that their son had described on social media as his “beauty.”

His parents declined to take him home, choosing instead to return to work and accepting a list of mental health providers. School staff said Ethan Crumbley could stay on campus. A counselor, Shawn Hopkins, said he believed it would be safer for the boy than possibly being alone at home.

No one, however, checked the teen’s backpack. He pulled the gun out later that day and killed four students — Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Shilling and Baldwin — and wounded seven other people.

There was no trial testimony from specialists about Ethan Crumbley’s state of mind. But the judge, over defense objections, allowed the jury to see excerpts from his journal.

“I have zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up the ... school,” he wrote. “I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help.”

Asked about her son reporting hallucinations months before the shooting, Jennifer Crumbley, 46, told jurors he was simply “messing around.”

At the close of James Crumbley’s trial, the prosecutor demonstrated how a cable lock, found in a package at home, could have secured the gun.

“Ten seconds,” Karen McDonald said, “of the easiest, simplest thing.”

White writes for the Associated Press.