By Hank Bartholomew
For the first time in American history, the parents of a mass school shooter have been charged in their child’s case. In November of 2021, fifteen-year-old Ethan Crumbley fatally shot four fellow students at Oxford high school, wounding six more students and a teacher. His mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a Michigan jury on February 6, 2024.
On November 30, 2021, at approximately 12:45 PM, security footage shows Ethan Crumbley enter a school restroom, then exit it holding a semi-automatic handgun about a minute later. Crumbley proceeded to open fire on the hundreds of students in the hallway, then moved from classroom to classroom, continuing to shoot. Police received the first of many 911 calls describing a mass shooting at around 12:51 PM. Roughly two minutes after first responders began to arrive, Crumbley surrendered to a deputy. Two seventeen year old students, one sixteen-year old student, and one fourteen year old student was killed.
Police executed a search warrant at Crumbley’s Michigan home, where they found several more firearms, as well as a journal in which Crumbley described “his desire to shoot up the school”, as well as the statement, “Hopefully my shooting will cause Biden to get impeached”.
Crumbley’s actions were not without significant warning signs, many of a particularly disturbing nature. As of March of 2021, Crumbley had begun sending his mother texts regarding claims about “ghosts” and “demons” inside his home. The fifteen year-old also allegedly videotaped himself torturing animals and making molotov cocktails, and drew a sketch of himself committing a mass shooting. His parents never sought therapy for him after any of these events.
On December 9, 2023, the sixteen-year-old Crumbley, charged as an adult, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
A few days prior, on December 3, 2023, charges were announced against Jennifer and James Crumbley. However, both parents missed their 4:00 PM arraignment and were deemed fugitives. Late on December 3, wanted posters for both individuals were released. At about 2:00 AM on December 4, after a tip from a Detroit business owner who had found the Crumbleys’ car in his parking lot, the parents were taken into custody.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that under state law, Jennifer Crumbley had an obligation to prevent her son from harming others. Much of the prosecution’s argument comes from evidence from the moments prior to Ethan Crumbley’s actions.
On the day of the shooting, a teacher reported Crumbley searching for ammunition online on his cell phone. School officials e-mailed and called Jennifer Crumbley, who declined to respond, but later texted her son, “LOL I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught”. Later that day, after school administrators discovered a drawing by Crumbley of a handgun, bullets, a bleeding body, and a laughing emoji, with the words, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me. . . . Blood everywhere. . . . The world is dead”, Crumbley’s parents were called to the school, where they were told to arrange treatment for their son within the next 48 hours or child protective services would be called. Allegedly, the parents resisted the idea of Crumbley leaving school for the day, and did not inform school officials that they had recently purchased their son a weapon four days ago as a “new Christmas present”–the handgun Crumbley would use to carry out the crime. Prosecutors alleged that at 1:22 PM of that day, Jennifer Crumbley texted her son the words, “Ethan, don’t do it.” School officials are adamant that had they known of the young man’s possession of a weapon, they would not have let him remain on school grounds.
As far as a defense was concerned, Jennifer Crumbley argued that she wasn’t aware of mental distress from her son. During her testimony, she declared, “We would talk. We did a lot of things together. I trusted him, and I felt I had an open door. He could come to me about anything.” The forty-five year old Crumbley argued keeping track of the firearm was her husband’s responsibility. She added during her testimony, “I have asked myself if I would have done anything differently. I wouldn’t have. I wish he would have killed us instead.”
After about eleven hours of deliberation, four guilty verdicts were returned. On April 9, 2024, a judge will set Jennifer Crumbley’s minimum prison service. The maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter in Michigan is fifteen years, two and a half of which Crumbley has already served at the county jail. If the prosecution chooses to seek consecutive sentences on the four convictions, it could result in almost sixty years in prison. James Crumbley’s trial is set to begin March 5 of this year.
I spoke to a criminology professor at American University about the deeper trends responsible for this trial–and conviction–who explained why we’re seeing parents of mass shooters be criminally charged for their children’s actions. “We are seeing an uptick in gun-related violence generally . . . especially for mass shootings,” he explained. Furthermore, in blue and purple states, “Prosecutors are starting to have a little more courage”. Michigan’s identity as a purple or slightly blue state “definitely had a role to play” in charges being brought against Jennifer Crumbley.
At this point, it’s still unclear to what degree, if at all, charging parents for the actions of juvenile shooters will affect the number of mass shootings we see in America. Some hope that such actions will lead parents to secure their guns and ammunition at home, and keep them away from children, unless under specific circumstances. “Potentially, you would’ve kept this kid from owning a lethal weapon,” the professor I talked to said of these measures. “Overall, the more you restrict access to firearms, the less gun-related homicides, gun-related suicides, gun-related accidents.” Of course, it’s important to remember that these changes will be gradual. “There might be an uptick [of charges against parents of mass shooters], but I don’t think it’ll happen dramatically or overnight.
Ethan Crumbley’s actions are not uncommon in America. In 2023, there were over 350 deaths from school shootings in the United States. “The best approach, policy wise, is that that is based on research,” argues the American University professor. Research indicates that we need “tighter restrictions on who can access a firearm, tighter restrictions on the buying of ammunition, tighter background checks for private gun sales.”
Prosecuting the parents of juvenile mass shooters won’t solve everything, says the professor. “I don’t think it will be a panacea by any means.” Nonetheless, “I think it’s worth giving it a try.”
I also spoke to Luis Chelsea, a professor of Criminal Law at the University of Buffalo. He explained why the legality of these charges are not exactly crystal-clear. “This is the first time in American history that a parent has been convicted of the manslaughter of another for failing to prevent a murder committed by a minor child,” he explained. Jennifer Crumbley was not directly responsible for the Oxford shooting–but the prosecution argues that she may as well be, because she failed to prevent the murder. But that’s a gray area too. “The general rule in American criminal law is that a failure to prevent is not criminal,” explains Chelsea. Jennifer Crumbley is “being charged with failing to prevent the criminal behavior of her fifteen year old child.” That’s not the same as committing the act herself.
As harsh as it may seem, Jennifer Crumbley technically is not obligated under Michigan law to prevent harm to children other than her own, unlike other parties. “The school truly has a duty to control the behavior of their kids and protect the kids in their custody. Jennifer Crumbley did not have a responsibility to protect other kids,” says Chelsea.
Finally, there is the issue that Ethan Crumbley was tried and sentenced as an adult. The law is sending two conflicting messages . . . the law is saying ‘he is an adult and responsible, but mom, you should have prevented the behavior of your child, who we tried convicted, sentenced as an adult,’” notes Chelsea. The prosecution claims that because Ethan Crumblery was her son, Jennifer Crumbley was responsible for his actions. But at the same time, Ethan Crumbley was charged as an adult, implying independence.
Chelsea doubts charging adults for the mass shootings their children commit will have much of an effect. “This is just putting a bandaid on a problem that’s really more of a systemic problem.”
As of this writing, it’s still unclear what effect Jennifer Crumbley’s verdict–and its precedent–will have on the American legal system, and American mass shootings. For now, America remains plagued by violence.