Teenager who killed four classmates near Detroit with gun given to him for Christmas jailed for life
A teenager who fatally shot four classmates two years ago at his high school has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Ethan Crumbley was just 15-years-old when he opened fire on 30 November 2021, with a semi-automatic handgun his father had bought him as a Christmas gift days earlier.
Along with the four classmates he killed, Crumbley wounded six other students and a teacher at the school in Oxford Township, about 40 miles north of Detroit.
His parents have also been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting, in one of the first US cases that seeks to hold parents accountable for their child’s school shooting.
Crumbley pleaded guilty last year to two dozen counts, including one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder.
A judge rejected pleas for a shorter sentence and ensured that Crumbley, now 17, will not get an opportunity for parole.
Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism
“My actions were what I chose to do. I could not stop myself… I am a really bad person. I’ve done terrible things,” Crumbley said before the sentence was announced.
He said he was sorry and pledged to change while behind bars.
Life sentences for teenagers are rare in Michigan since the US Supreme Court and the state’s highest court said the violent acts of minors must be viewed differently than the crimes of adults.
At a hearing in Oakland County Circuit Court on Friday, relatives of the victims described their daily struggles to move past the shooting and urged Judge Kwame Rowe to lock Crumbley up for the rest of his life.
“We are miserable. We miss Tate,” said Buck Myre, the father of Tate Myre. “Our family has a permanent hole in it that can never be fixed – ever.”
Ethan’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, have also been charged over the shooting for making the gun accessible to their son
Nicole Beausoleil recalled seeing the body of her daughter, Madisyn Baldwin, at the medical examiner’s office, her hand with blue-painted fingernails sticking out from a covering.
“I looked though the glass. My scream should have shattered it,” Ms Beausoleil said.
Jill Soave, the mother of Justin Shilling, told the gunman that he executed a boy who could have helped him navigate awkward teenage years.
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“If you were that lonely, that miserable and lost, and you really needed a friend, Justin would have been your friend – if only you had asked,” Ms Soave said.
Crumbley looked down as Ms Soave and others spoke.
Like their son, Jennifer and James Crumbley are locked up in the county jail.
They are awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, accused of making a gun accessible at home and neglecting the gunman’s mental health.
Crumbley and his parents met school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher noticed violent drawings.
But no one checked his backpack for a gun and he was allowed to stay.
Dozens of supporters were outside court as the man accused of fatally shooting the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare made his first appearance.
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the 4 December killing of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
The 26-year-old is accused of ambushing and shooting the executive as he walked to an investor conference.
Luigi Mangione supporters stand outside the Supreme Court. Pic: AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah
Dozens of people who showed up in court to support the suspect including former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning who was jailed for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Dozens more queued in the hallway.
Mangione is also facing federal charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty.
The judge set a deadline of 9 April to submit pre-trial motions.
Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson. Pic: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP
In addition to the New York cases, Mr Mangione also faces charges of forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, and other counts in Pennsylvania, where authorities arrested him at a McDonald’s.
Police say he was in possession of a gun, bullets, multiple fake IDs and a handwritten document that expressed “ill will” towards corporate America.
He is being held in a Brooklyn jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including music mogul and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, and disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
The killing prompted some to voice their resentment at US health insurers, with Mangione attracting a cult following.
A poll taken in the wake of the shooting showed most Americans believe health insurance profits and coverage denials were partly to blame for the incident.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have not “done anything” to end the Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has said.
He called the French president a “friend of mine” and the UK leader a “nice guy” but said Russia had only agreed to negotiate “because of me”.
Mr Trump made the comments days before both leaders visit the White House for a meeting in which they must try to press Ukraine‘s case while keeping the US leader onside.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Paris: Pic: Number 10/Flickr
The president also continued his criticism of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he had “no cards” to play.
“I’ve been watching for years, and I’ve been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I’ve had it,” he told a Fox radio show.
The comments come after he recently called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections” – apparently in response to Mr Zelenskyy saying his US counterpart was living in a “disinformation space” after Mr Trump claimed Ukraine had started the war.
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Ukraine was also excluded from talks between the top US and Russian diplomats in Riyadh earlier this week.
They were intended to set the stage for future negotiations on ending the war, which started when Russia launched a full-scale invasion three years ago.
Speaking on Friday evening, Mr Trump denied speculation he could visit Moscow for talks on 9 May – the day Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis.
President Trump speaks in the Oval Office on Friday. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump also told reporters the Russian and Ukrainian leaders needed to “work together” to end the war.
However, the US has already dealt a huge blow to Kyiv’s position in any future talks.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that a return to pre-war borders was “unrealistic” and ruled out NATO membership as way to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
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President Zelenskyy has insisted he will not accept any deal that his country is not involved in.
Ukraine’s leader held talks with US envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv on Thursday, describing it later as a “good discussion”.
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Mr Kellogg struck a markedly different tone to President Trump when he called Mr Zelenskyy the “courageous leader of a nation at war”.
However, there are concerns over how much influence Mr Kellogg has, with a Ukrainian source saying there was a sense he had been sidelined.
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