A jury today found Jennifer Crumbley, 45, mother of Ethan Crumbley, the Michigan teen who on Nov. 30, 2021, killed four students and wounded seven others at Oxford High School in Oakland County, guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
This is the first-ever trial of a parent in connection with a mass shooting committed by their child. Her husband, James Crumbley, is set to stand trial on the same charges in March.
Their son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to murder last year and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who represented Oxford from 2019-2023 before Congressional redistricting, said today’s verdict was historic.
“Having watched the Oxford community go through this school shooting firsthand, and seeing the lifelong hole it ripped in the lives of everyone involved, this verdict feels like a small moment of relief,” said Slotkin. “It is my hope that it brings a bit of peace to the survivors and to the entire community, as I know everyone in Oxford has worked to heal together over the past two years.
“It’s also important to acknowledge that this outcome is an example of how Michigan is setting a standard for responding when our kids are killed in their sanctuaries. Special thanks to Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who took on this case when most told her not to, and who has made history winning it.
“Last year, in the wake of both the Oxford shooting and then the MSU shooting, our legislature passed new laws, including requiring the safe storage of weapons in homes with children.
“We are a state where many have grown up with guns and feel passionately about their Second Amendment rights, but we are also a state that rises to the mission of protecting our babies in their schools. Unlike so many others, Michigan responded, and today that response led to accountability.
“And as we have done so many times since that terrible day, we should hold our loved ones close and refuse to accept that school shootings are just a fact of life.”
