For the first time in U.S. history, a jury is going to decide if the parents of school shooters can be held responsible for their child’s crimes. Jennifer Crumbley is set to stand trial for her son’s school shooting back on Nov. 29, 2021.
Jennifer was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and faces up to 15 years in prison. Ethan Crumbley, Jennifer’s son, shot and killed four students and injured seven others at Oxford High School in Michigan. Ethan was 15 years old at the time.
Days after the shooting, Ethan’s parents were charged. While the parents aren’t accused of knowing their child was going to shoot up a school, the prosecution is arguing the parents made a gun accessible to Ethan and ignored his mental health needs.
On the day of the shooting, Ethan’s parents met with counselors to discuss graphic and violent drawings and messages, including one that said, “The thoughts won’t stop, help me.”
The parents declined to take their son home from school, and the shooting happened later that day.
“I think prosecutors are feeling pressure when these weapon-related offenses occur,” University of Michigan Criminal Procedure professor Eve Brensike Primus said about the case. “People are outraged, and they’re looking for someone to take responsibility for it.”
The Crumbleys are the first to face charges related to a mass shooting for which their child has been found guilty. However, in December of 2023, a mother in Virginia was sentenced to two years in prison for child neglect after her 6-year-old son brought a gun to school and shot his teacher.
Jury selection proceedings for Jennifer Crumbley’s trial began Tuesday, Jan. 23.
The father, James Crumbley, will face a separate trial in March.
Ethan Crumbley, now 17, was sentenced to life in prison in December 2023.
