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 Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.
James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP
He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.
Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.
Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”
Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.
The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.
Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.
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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.
While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.
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