- Both Crumbley parents have pleaded not guilty to four counts each of involuntary manslaughter.
- Jennifer Crumbley faces a maximum prison sentence of 60 years and maximum fines of US$30,000.
- Another victim was shot a second time after she was down, Rowe said, “to finish the job by shooting her again.”
Were the parents responsible?
Many were surprised when the Crumbleys, were charged for their alleged role in the tragedy. Criminal law, unlike civil law, is less likely to hold defendants liable for the actions of a third party, even if that third party is the defendant’s child. This is because in criminal law defendants face incarceration and the associated stigma that comes with a conviction.
- In the rare instances that parents of school shooters are prosecuted, they were normally charged with crimes such as child abuse, child neglect and the failure to properly secure a firearm.
- The charge lodged against the Crumbleys, involuntary manslaughter, also known as gross negligent homicide, was even more uncommon.
- In 2000, Jamelle James, a Michigan resident, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for leaving his handgun in a shoebox in his bedroom.
- Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has taken direct aim at Crumbley’s parents.
‘Egregious’ behavior
- To prove the parents’ gross negligence, the prosecution relied on a series of alleged facts.
- Among the most central facts was that the Crumbleys bought their son the handgun as a Christmas present and later took him to target practice.
- Neither parent informed the school that they had bought the gun and that their son had access to it.
- “It takes the unthinkable, and she has done the unthinkable, and because of that, four kids have died,” McDonald said.
- Though the prosecution’s case appeared compelling, Shannon Smith, Crumbley’s defense attorney, had some very strong counterarguments.
- As Smith asked in her closing defense argument, “Can every parent really be responsible for everything their children do, especially when it’s not foreseeable?”
Changing the laws
- The same cannot be said for Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time of the shootings.
- That federal proposal became part of a state legislative package
signed into law April 13, 2023, by Michigan Gov.
- The new laws took effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
- Editor’s note: Some material used in this story was originally published on Dec. 20, 2021.
Thaddeus Hoffmeister does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
