April 9 (UPI) — Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley were each sentenced to 10-15 years in prison in a first-of-its-kind penalty on Tuesday.
They each received the maximum sentences sought by Michigan prosecutors after they were found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials in February and March, respectively as they became the nation’s first parents to be convicted and sentenced on charges arising from a shooting done by their child.
“Each act or inaction created a ripple effect, therefore an outer guideline sentence is appropriate and proportional,” Judge Cheryl Matthews said.
They will each receive credit for 858 days already served.
Both parents were also barred from contacting the families of the four students killed in the shooting carried out by their son.
Ethan Crumbley, 17, in 2022 pleaded guilty to the four murders, terrorism and related charges and in December was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
He used a semi-automatic pistol that his parents bought for him for target shooting as he opened fire on his classmates, killing Tate Myre,16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.
Jennifer Crumbley had asked Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews to let her serve out her sentence at her attorney’s guest home instead of prison.
Oakland County prosecutors opposed the request, saying she showed a “chilling lack of remorse,” during her trial and want her sentenced to prison.
“Such a proposed sentence is a slap in the face to the severity of tragedy caused by (Jennifer Crumbley’s) gross negligence, the victims and their families,” Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast wrote in a sentencing memorandum Wednesday.
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, was negligent and “did not take steps to take care and protect the other children” despite a “reasonable foreseeability” she needed to act to prevent Ethan shooting his classmates, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said during her trial.
McDonald produced 300 pieces of evidence, including a journal in which Ethan Crumbley planned the school shooting and text messages to a friend discussing his poor mental health.
He also wrote “help me” on a piece of paper on which he also drew a firearm while in school, which prompted school officials to contact the Crumbleys to discuss Ethan’s behavior the morning of the school shooting.
His parents didn’t remove Ethan from school that day, and school officials didn’t ask them to take him home.
James Crumbley, 47, also asked for leniency by requesting his sentence be limited to time served.
James Crumbley spent about seven months in jail while awaiting trial and in early March lost his communications privileges after making threatening statements in emails and over the jailhouse phone about McDonald.
Keast said the request shows a “shameless lack of remorse” and is another “slap in the face” of the judicial system, the victims and their families.
The prosecutor’s sentencing memorandum details how James Crumbley several times used misogynist expletives over the jailhouse phone to refer to McDonald and said he would “take her down.”
He also said he hoped the call would be recorded and sent to McDonald so she would hear his phone rants against her.
Keast said James Crumbley views himself as a “martyr” and blames everyone but himself for the school shooting and his subsequent prosecution.
Local police arrested James and Jennifer Crumbley after they fled their home but were found in the basement of an art studio on Detroit’s east side on Dec. 4, 2021.
