Ethan Crumbley, 16, pleads guilty to killing four in Michigan high school shooting
A Michigan teenager pleaded guilty to a number of charges on Monday stemming from a 2021 school shooting that left four students dead and six other students and a teacher wounded.
Ethan Crumbley, 16, pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including terrorism, first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder and possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony, after his Nov. 30, 2021, attack at Oxford High School, about 30 miles north of Detroit.
Ethan Crumbley answers yes to charges against him from assistant prosecutor during his pre-trial hearing at Oakland County Courthouse, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Pontiac, Mich. Crumbley entered the guilty plea to 24 criminal charges including terrorism causing death and first-degree murder for the Oxford High School shooting. (Clarence Tabb Jr./)
Crumbley had earlier decided against pursuing an insanity defense and told Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwame Rowe he understood the ramifications of the potential penalties he now faces.
Parents James and Jennifer Crumbley remain jailed on separate involuntary manslaughter charges and are accused of ignoring their son’s mental health needs and giving him access to the gun used in the shooting.
Crumbley’s lawyer, Paulette Michel Loftin, did not discount the possibility her client would testify against his parents at a later date.
Sandra Cunningham of Oxford comforts her daughter Phoebe Arthur,15, who was a shooting victim of Ethan Crumbley, during his pretrial hearing at Oakland County Courthouse, Monday, Oct. 24, 2022, in Pontiac, Mich. (Clarence Tabb Jr./)
On the day of the shooting, a teacher found a drawing of a gun with the phrase “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me” as well as a bullet labeled “blood everywhere.”
James and Jennifer Crumbley were told to put Crumbley into counseling within two days, but declined to take him out of school. Unbeknownst to his parents or anyone else at the school, Crumbley had a handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition in his backpack and opened fire on his classmates later in the day before surrendering to sheriff’s deputies.
A day prior, Jennifer Crumbley had allegedly texted Crumbley to “learn not to get caught” after a teacher caught him searching for ammunition on his phone.
After Crumbley was originally arraigned in 2021, James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Before they were taken into custody, the couple withdrew $4,000 from an ATM and disappeared. Several law enforcement agencies coordinated and found the couple in a Detroit building several days later.
Memorial items are shown on the sign of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (Paul Sancya/)
“Put simply, [James and Jennifer Crumbley] created an environment in which their son’s violent tendencies flourished. They were aware their son was troubled, and then they bought him a gun,” prosecutors said in a court filing.
Crumbley is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 9 and faces a possible life sentence with no chance for parole.
Attorneys Ven Johnson and Wolf Mueller, who are representing the victims’ families in civil suits, described Crumbley’s actions as “cold-blooded” and said his plea “is one small step forward on a long path towards obtaining full justice for our clients.”
With News Wire Services
