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.
A business jet has crashed at a North Carolina airport, erupting into flames and killing multiple people, authorities have said.
The plane was linked to former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, officials added.
Flight records show the aircraft was registered to a company run by Biffle.
Greg Biffle pictured ahead of baseball game in May this year. Pic: AP
The Cessna C550 business jet had taken off from Statesville Regional Airport, around 45 miles north of Charlotte, shortly after 10am local time (3pm UK time) on Thursday, bound for Florida.
It then returned and was attempting to land, according to flight tracking data.
Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said: “I can confirm there were fatalities.” He did not share any further details.
The Federal Aviation Authority said six people were aboard the plane.
Footage from WSOC-TV showed emergency workers rushing on to the runway as flames burned near the wreckage.
Airport director John Ferguson said: “The airport now is closed until further notice. It will take some time to get the debris off the runway.”
More US news:
New Epstein pictures released
White House plaques attack ex-presidents
The airport’s website says it offers corporate aviation facilities for Fortune 500 companies and several NASCAR teams.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the crash.
The anticipation had been that it would be a speech of significance.
The White House had announced two days earlier that the president was to deliver an evening address to the nation.
Traditionally the 9pm slot, interrupting the prime-time schedule on all the networks, is reserved for big news – usually international in nature.
Speculation had grown through the day that he may use the speech to address the prospect of US military action in Venezuela.
Read more: Trump has told us why he’s going after Venezuela
Instead, Trump took the big audience moment to make what was essentially a campaign speech but delivered at speed and combative in tone.
He blamed former president Joe Biden for the economy he inherited, on the “brink of ruin”, adding that he is “bringing those high prices down and bringing them down very fast”.
Speaking from the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, he said: “Our country is back, stronger than ever before. We’re poised for an economic boom the likes of which the nation has never seen.
“It’s not done yet, but boy are we making progress, nobody can believe what’s going on.”
Flanked by Christmas trees, but the speech hardly offered goodwill to all men
He was speaking against an increasingly challenging backdrop politically and economically.
Petrol prices are down, but the broad cost of living continues to rise, and people do not seem to be feeling the economic boom he claims to be unleashing.
The unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, the highest it’s been for five years.
The only real announcement in his speech was a bonus for members of the military.
He said that the government would send cheques of $1,776 to all service members. The idea, he said, had only been finalised “about 30 minutes ago”, and the cheques were already in the post.
A fascinating speech – in tone if not substance
It was a very notable presidential address, not for what he announced because there was no big reveal. It was the tone which fascinated me.
The 9pm live address was his framing of his greatest hits from the past year, but delivered by an angry and frustrated man.
“Why are my polling numbers not better?” was the vibe he gave off.
“Why is the economy not doing better? Why are you – the voters – not feeling better off?”
Not actual quotes, but the clear subtext.
Read more: White House plaques attack ex-presidents
Trump’s address was a selection of his greatest hits. Pic: Reuters
It is his low polling, rising unemployment, the cost of living and inflation challenges which prompted this address.
Had he come out and, off script, with empathy, said – “look, I get it… it’s taking time for you to feel my economic success….” – if he’d said all that with meaning, I think that would have landed in a more sympathetic way.
Instead – reading, unusually, off a script, he came across as a very frustrated president and extremely defensive.
Here’s the worry for Team Trump. So often out and about with voters, I hear people say: “Oh I don’t really like his style, his language, his divisiveness. But he’s a businessman. He knows how to run the country and the economy.”
If he loses those people, he’s in real trouble. That’s especially true when combined with suggestions he is losing some in his base too – just listen to his fan-turned-foe, MAGA stalwart, Marjorie Taylor Green.
One last thought. There are observers who think Trump is kind of unhinged; losing his marbles a bit. The slightly strange tone of this speech will be evidence for them, for sure.
Donald Trump’s administration has installed new plaques beneath portraits of former presidents attacking his predecessors in the US president’s typical fashion.
Among the plaques, apparently written by Mr Trump himself, is one for Joe Biden reading: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst president in American history.”
The “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House features a picture or painting of every former US president – except Mr Biden, who has been replaced by a photo of an autopen.
Biden’s refers to ‘Sleepy Joe’. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden was not mentally capable by the end of his term as president and his staff made decisions on his behalf, using an autopen to sign them off without his knowledge.
The device reproduces a person’s signature, allowing them to repeatedly sign documents without having to do so by hand each time.
The damning decoration goes on to falsely accuse Mr Biden of winning the “most corrupt election ever” and claims he made “unprecedented use of the autopen.”
Obama’s says he presided over a ‘stagnant economy’. Pic: Reuters
Another plaque refers to “Barack Hussein Obama” as “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”
The plaque underneath Bill Clinton’s photo reads: “In 2016, president Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the presidency to President Donald J Trump!”
Even George W Bush, a fellow Republican – though not a Trump supporter – is given a badge of rebuke, with his plaque saying the former president “started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which should not have happened.”
Bush’s plaque attacks the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pic: Reuters
The “Presidential Walk of Fame” is a recent addition to Mr Trump’s White House and displays the portraits along corridors between the Oval Office and the South Lawn.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the plaques were an “eloquent” description of each president’s legacy.
“As a student of history, many were written directly by the president himself,” she said.
It is the latest change to Mr Trump’s White House, which has seen the increased use of gold-coloured accents and gilded fixtures that mimic the decorations in Trump Tower in New York and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
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