(CNN) — Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a teenager who killed four students in a 2021 Oxford, Michigan, high school shooting, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in a groundbreaking legal case that stood as circumstantial evidence. Responsible for school shootings.
The 12-member jury deliberated for more than 10 hours.
Crumbley, 45, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to the Nov. 30, 2021, mass shooting at Oxford High School that killed four students and injured six students and a teacher. He can be jailed for up to 15 years. He will be sentenced on April 9.
Prosecutors argued that Jennifer Crumbley was responsible for the death because she was “grossly negligent” in giving the gun to her son Ethan, then 15, and failing to provide him with adequate mental health treatment despite warning signs. In a week of testimony, law enforcement officials, school employees, victims of the shooting and people who knew Jennifer Crumbley testified on behalf of the prosecution.
“This is a rare case that requires really serious facts,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in closing arguments Friday. “It takes the unthinkable, and she has done the unthinkable, and because of it, four children have died.”
However, the defense argued that others were to blame: her husband for improperly securing the firearm; from the school for failing to notify you of your child’s behavioral problems; And Ethan himself, who planned and carried out the attack on his own. Defense attorney Shannon Smith said the case is “dangerous” to parents around the world.
“Can all parents really be responsible for everything their children do, especially when it’s not foreseeable?” Smith said in his closing argument.
Jennifer Crumbley took the stand in her own defense and, in an extraordinary moment, showed no remorse for her actions.
“I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Final arguments were held on Friday. The judge instructed the jury on the law Monday morning and deliberations continued.
Overall, the prosecution relied on an unusual and innovative legal strategy and represented an attempt to broaden the scope of blame for mass shootings. And in its peculiarities, the trial offers an intimate look at an American family’s descent into a web of sex, violence and mental illness.
Crumbley’s husband, James, is scheduled to go on trial on similar charges in early March.
His son Ethan pleaded guilty to one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of murder and 19 other charges related to manslaughter. Last year he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He did not testify at the trial, as his lawyers said he would exercise his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
What happened at the trial?
Clockwise from top left, Hannah St. Juliana, Justin Schilling, Madisyn Baldwin and Tate Myer were killed in the November 2021 shooting. (Acquired by CNN)
The prosecution’s case against Jennifer Crumbley focused on three key aspects: her knowledge of her son’s mental problems, how she had access to firearms and her actions at a critical school meeting the morning of the shooting. Prosecutors tried to portray her as a distracted mother, more interested in her horses and her extramarital affairs than her son’s well-being.
First, the prosecution alleged that she knew or should have known of Ethan’s deteriorating mental health. For example, Ethan sent her a series of messages in the spring of 2021 telling her there was a ghost or demon in the house and begging her to respond, but she did not. He also texted a friend to tell his parents about the hallucination and asked for help, but his mother laughed at him.
However, in his testimony, Crumbley said that the text messages about the ghost were “playing around” with Ethan, part of an ongoing joke about his house being haunted. He also said that the message he sent to the friend was fake and that he never asked her for help.
“I felt like we were very close. We talked. We did a lot together. I trusted him and felt that his door was open and he could come to me for anything. I felt that the three of us were very close. Close. Family,” she said.
Second, prosecutors accused Crumbley of giving the gun to her son and improperly storing it. Surveillance video shows he and Ethan went to a shooting range and took turns shooting on November 27, 2021, days before the shooting. “Mom and son trying on their new Christmas present,” he later wrote on social media.
“The shooter got the murder weapon from his parents, and this mother is sitting here in court today,” MacDonald said in his conclusion.
But in her testimony, Crumbley said it was her husband’s responsibility to store the gun safely. “I didn’t feel comfortable taking that charge,” she said. “It was more his thing, so I let him handle it. I didn’t feel comfortable locking him up.”
Finally, the prosecution pointed to its inaction in a meeting with school personnel on the day of the shooting. That morning, a teacher found a picture of Ethan with a gun and a bleeding person with phrases such as “Thoughts won’t stop helping me,” “Blood everywhere,” and “My life is worthless.” The Crumbleys were called to the school for a meeting, and the school counselor testified that he recommended the parents take their son home for immediate mental health treatment.
The Crumblies refused to do so that day because they didn’t want to miss work, the counselor testified, so the group agreed to keep Ethan at school for the rest of the day. They also did not mention the school staff who had just bought him a new gun or his previous delinquent texts. Shortly after the meeting, the teenager pulled a weapon from his backpack and shot his classmates, killing Hannah St. Juliana, Tate Myer, Madisyn Baldwin, and Justin Schilling.
“Just little things could have saved, helped, Hana and Tate and Madisyn and Justin,” MacDonald said. “Just the little things. And not only did he not do it, he didn’t even regret it.”
However, the school’s dean testified that he did not view the drawing as threatening, although he also said that he did not know and was not told that Ethan had access to a weapon and had mental health issues. Jennifer Crumbley testified that the school meeting was “light” and “brief.”
“We agreed that doing his school from a distance the rest of the day might be more stressful for him. But at no time did I refuse to take him home,” she said.
