The son killed four students in November 2021. Now both parents must be punished.
This is the first time the perpetrator's parents have been held responsible for a school shooting in the United States AP news agency.
15-year-old Ethan Crumbley killed four fellow students at Oxford High School in Michigan on November 30, 2021: Justin Schilling (age 17), Madisyn Baldwin (age 17), Hannah St. Giuliana (age 14), and Tate Meyer (age 16). . .
He was sentenced to life in prison for the school shooting.
Both parents remained He was arrested and charged shortly after the murders.
In early February, Jennifer Crombley, Ethan's mother, was found guilty of negligent homicide. On Thursday, the jury also convicted Father James Crombley in the case.
He wrote that the ruling itself would be ready in April nbc.
Parents are judged for doing nothing to prevent a school shooting, and for having the murder weapon in the home.
“I know that this sentence will not bring them back,” said prosecutor Karen McDonald after the ruling, addressing the survivors of murder victims.
— but I hope this serves as a reminder of how important it is to hold those who allow gun violence accountable.
Raadiya against parents after school shooting: -You could have stopped him
Central drawing
Shortly before the school shooting, Ethan Crumbley caused concern at the school, drawing a drawing with a desperate message: “Thoughts will never end. Help me. My life has no meaning.”
This drawing, and the family’s reaction to it, was pivotal in the father’s trial. AP writes.
-James Crombley was never brought to justice for what his son did. He is being tried for what he did and did not do. Prosecutor McDonald said in court Thursday that he doesn't get a free pass even if someone else pulls the trigger.
-I think my son took the gun
When the school discovered the drawing, parents were immediately called. At school, they were to show compassion to their son, but they did not choose to take him home or take action in any other way, according to the court.
Neither the son nor the parents mentioned to the school that the parents had just purchased a gun.
Later that day, it was revealed that Ethan had brought this weapon with him to school that day. He took it out of his backpack and shot and killed four of his fellow students:
When the father heard about the murder, he rushed home to look for the gun.
“I think my son took the gun,” he said in a desperate emergency call.
The accused: – He did not know
His defense lawyer, Mariel Lehmann, said in court that the father had in no way approved his son's use of the weapon.
– He didn't know that he had to protect others from his son. He did not know that it would be reasonable to expect his son to commit these crimes. He said he had no idea what his son was up to, among other things.
In his memoirs, excerpts from which the jury were able to see, the son wrote, among other things:
-I didn't get any help for my mental problems and that meant I had to destroy…the school. I want help, but my parents don't listen to me, so I can't get help.
Cassandra Crifasi, a senior director at the Johns Hopkins Center on Gun Violence, previously told CNN that charging parents with negligent homicide after a school shooting is highly unusual.
“We rarely hold people accountable for giving guns to people who weren't supposed to get them,” she added.
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