After 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley killed four fellow students and injured seven at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit in November 2021, we opined in support of the prosecution of his parents—a first of its kind prosecution—for involuntary manslaughter. The allegations in the indictment were compelling.
Recently, after hearing the testimony of 21 prosecution witnesses, a jury of 12 individuals deliberated for more than 10 hours and found the mother, Jennifer Crumbley, guilty of all four counts of involuntary manslaughter, facing a possible sentence of up to 15 years’ incarceration. The prosecution argued that Mrs. Crumbley was responsible for the deaths because she was “grossly negligent” in gifting a gun to her young son and failing to secure mental health treatment for him under the circumstances. Mrs. Crumbley, who took the stand in her own defense, incredibly expressed no regret. “I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have,” she said. She blamed her husband for his failure to properly secure the weapon; the school for failure to apprise her of her son’s behavioral issues; and her son, the perpetrator. She did argue that she had tried to protect her son, but had no idea he would hurt other people.
