Parents of Michigan School Shooter Who Killed 4 Will Go on Trial for Involuntary Manslaughter
James and Jennifer Crumbley have each been charged with four counts of manslaughter in connection with the 2021 attack at Oxford High School
A Michigan court has ruled that the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who shot four people to death in his Michigan high school in 2021 when he was 15, will face trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, according to court documents reviewed by PEOPLE.
The court order issued by the Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday denied James and Jennifer Crumbley’s appeal of a prior judgement that cleared the couple to face trial in connection with the Nov. 2021 shooting, in which their teenage son opened fire inside Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich.
Shortly after the killings, the shooter's parents were arrested following a manhunt after they initially went into hiding. They were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter each, and prosecutors said at the time that James had bought the shooter the gun days before the shooting.
According to Tuesday’s ruling, the court determined that the couple did not have grounds for their appeal.
In October 2022, the shooter pleaded guilty to 24 charges that included murder and terrorism, ABC News, the Detroit Free Press and FOX 2 Detroit reported at the time.
Last week, a county circuit court judge also ruled that the shooter is eligible for life in prison without the possibility of parole, CNN reported. The judge cited the shooter's behavior exhibiting interest in violence before the massacre as well as during his time in jail, calling it an "obsession."
“If the defendant continues to be obsessed with violence in the jail, how can there be a possibility of rehabilitation?” the judge said on Friday, according to the outlet.
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Four teenagers were killed in the shooting and seven other people, including a teacher, were wounded. The four victims who died from injuries sustained in the shooting were identified as Hana St. Juliana, 14, Tate Myre, 16, Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17.
At the shooter's arraignment, authorities said they found two videos on his cell phone in which he talked about shooting and killing his schoolmates, CNN reported. According to the outlet, a journal found in the suspect's backpack also detailed plans for a school shooting.
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