Ethan Crumbley: Parents of teenager who shot dead four classmates in the US jailed for manslaughter
The parents of a US teenager who shot four classmates dead have been jailed for at least 10 years for manslaughter.
Ethan Crumbley is serving life in prison for murder after killing four students at Oxford High School, near Detroit in Michigan, in November 2021, when he was 15.
His parents had given him the weapon he used as a Christmas present.
The Crumbleys are the first parents to be convicted of manslaughter in a child’s school shooting.
Ethan’s mother Jennifer Crumbley, 46, was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter – one for each victim – in February this year. She was jailed for 10 to 15 years.
His father, James Crumbley, 47, was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter. The judge also sentenced him to 10 to 15 years in prison.
In remarks to the court before they were sentenced, Jennifer Crumbley expressed her “deepest sorrow” and claimed she had no inkling her son was capable of killing.
“My husband and I used to say we have the perfect kid. I truly believed that,” she said. “I didn’t have a reason to do anything different. This is not something I foresaw.”
Addressing the court, her husband said: “I am sorry for your loss as a result of what my son did. My heart pours out to every single one of you.”
James Crumbley. Pic: Detroit Free Press via AP
Defendant Jennifer Crumbley. Pic: Detroit Free Press via AP
Prosecutors previously argued both parents bore responsibility because they gave their son the gun and ignored signs of violence.
James Crumbley purchased the 9mm semi-automatic handgun as a Christmas present for Ethan just four days before the 30 November 2021 shooting.
Both of the parents were summoned to their son’s school after teachers discovered violent messages like “blood everywhere” and “the thoughts won’t stop – help me” plus drawings on his schoolwork, prosecutors said during the trials.
The Crumbleys were told Ethan needed immediate counselling.
But prosecutors said the couple resisted, taking the boy home that day, and didn’t search his backpack or ask him about the gun they knew he could access.
Both of the Crumbleys had challenged that account in their trials, saying teachers in the meeting mutually agreed Ethan could remain in school that day and at no point did they think he posed a danger.
Ethan was returned to class and later walked out of a bathroom with the gun and began firing, according to prosecutors.
He killed 14-year-old Hana St Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling and injured seven other people.
(L-R) Hana St Juliana, 14, Tate Myre, 16, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, were killed by Crumbley
Justin Shilling, 17, was also killed in the shooting
What did the victims’ families say?
Madisyn Baldwin’s mother, Nicole Beausoleil, was the first to give a victim impact statement.
She said: “You failed as parents. The punishment that you face will never be enough. It will never bring her back… and it will never heal the pain.”
Ms Beausoleil criticised the Crumbleys for not listening to their son, which “took the right away for me to be a mother”.
“You show no remorse, no respect or compassion for our family. The same traits you bestowed upon your son… which tore my family to pieces.”
In an emotional statement, Ms Beausoleil said their lack of compassion was “disgusting” adding, as well as Ethan, the pair “both killed” her daughter.
The families of the other victims echoed Ms Baldwin’s sentiments.
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What do the Crumbley’s lawyers say?
Both defendants have been behind bars for over two years since their arrest in Detroit days after the shooting and both were unable to post the $500,000 (£394,000) bond before trial.
Mariell Lehman, James Crumbley’s lawyer, said the nearly two and a half years spent in jail was enough time in custody.
James Crumbley “did not believe that there was reason to be concerned that his son was a threat to anyone,” Ms Lehman said.
Jennifer Crumbley’s lawyer, Shannon Smith, previously said the defendant was “not a threat to the community.”
In a court filing, Ms Smith said putting her in prison “does nothing to further deter others from committing like offences” and said “any gross negligence” were mistakes “that any parent could make.”
The lawyer added she was even willing to house Jennifer Crumbley at her property, fitted with an electronic tether.
The Crumbleys will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years in custody and will get credit for having served nearly two and a half years in jail. If parole is denied, they cannot be held longer than 15 years.
It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.
A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.
A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.
The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.
Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids
This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.
Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP
Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.
“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.
The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents
They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.
“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.
An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents
In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids
Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.
The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired
She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.
“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”
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US troops accused of ‘political stunt’ after park raid
Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”
The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico
“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”
The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned
I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.
She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.
All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.
Read more from Sky News:
Farmer first to die during ICE raids
Trump warns comic over citizenship
Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive
“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.
“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”
There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.
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Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.
“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”
The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.
The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.
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