Mother of shooter, who killed four students in 2021, was accused of gross negligence for failing to tell school the family possessed guns
Jennifer Crumbley, the Michigan mother accused of involuntary manslaughter when she failed to inform her 15-year-old son’s high school that the family possessed guns shortly before he went to campus and fatally shot four students and injured six, including a teacher, was found guilty of all charges Tuesday afternoon.
The verdict came after jurors on Monday began deliberations in a case that could shape the criminal liability of parents of underage mass shooters. The maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter under Michigan law is 15 years in prison.
Crumbley was accused by prosecutors of gross negligence for failing to tell Oxford high school officials that the family had guns, including a 9mm handgun that was used by her son, Ethan Crumbley, at a shooting range just a few days earlier.
The school’s inquiry came after it became concerned about a macabre drawing of a gun, bullet and wounded man, accompanied by disturbing phrases, on a math assignment. “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me. The world is dead. My life is useless,” the 15-year-old had written.
But during a 12-minute meeting with school officials, Crumbley, 45, and her husband James, 47, who is scheduled for trial in March, had not informed the school of the weapon at home and Ethan was allowed to stay in school.
