Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley’s parents, Jennifer and James, come face to face in court for sentencing after a bombing revealed her affair with a firefighter’s lover
James and Jennifer Crumbley will be sentenced together for their manslaughter convictions in connection with the 2021 school shooting of their teenage son Ethan.
The Michigan parents each face up to 15 years in prison after being found guilty in separate trials of callously ignoring their son’s pleas for mental health care before buying him the gun he used to kill four classmates.
James was first led into the courtroom in orange prison garb before his estranged wife joined him at their lawyer’s table minutes later, with both appearing to do their best not to look at the other and stare straight ahead.
Prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence each parent to 10 to 15 years in prison, citing their “chilling lack of remorse.”
James was particularly called out by prosecutors, and his communications were cut off during his trial after he made a string of threatening prison sentences, including saying prosecutor Karen McDonald faced “retribution.”
James and Jennifer Crumbley sat at the same table ahead of their sentencing as they will be forced to hear at least eleven victim impact statements
James Crumbley was the first to enter the courtroom wearing an all-orange jumpsuit ahead of his sentencing on Tuesday
Jennifer Crumbley was led out in prison uniform before joining her estranged husband at their lawyer’s table
The couple’s son, Ethan, was 15 when he opened fire on classmates at Oxford High School in November 2021, killing four people and wounding seven others. He is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole
Their son Ethan was 15 when he opened fire on classmates at Oxford High School in November 2021, killing four people and wounding seven others. He is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
After the shooting, the Crumbley’s fled the Oxford Township area after charges were announced against them.
They remained on the run for about a day, emptying their bank accounts and turning off their phones before being captured at a Detroit art studio, moves that were central to their trials.
The parents were also accused of recklessly buying Ethan the gun used in the tragedy, ignoring his pleas for help, as their juries saw his diary in which he detailed that his parents “wouldn’t help.”
James and Jennifer were tried separately at their own request, and their trial marked the first time parents were ever charged in their child’s school shooting. The couple has been estranged for years, as they have both been in prison since their arrest more than two years ago.
During Jennifer’s trial, her claims that she was ‘too busy’ to help Ethan on the day of the shooting after he was caught taking disturbing footage of school shootings were shot down when humiliating revelations about her private life were made by the court were heard.
Namely, she was found having an extramarital affair with a local fire chief amid claims she met him during the tragedy, in addition to accusations about her use of online hookup apps, as prosecutors portrayed her as a neglectful mother.
The parents’ attorneys denied the plaintiff’s request for sentencing by asking for less than fire years each.
Jennifer’s attorney has also requested that the 27 months she has already served be counted toward the sentencing, and that she be placed under house arrest at her attorney’s home.
James Crumbley seen during his trial, which was held separately from his estranged wife’s trial, on February 21, 2024. As he now faces sentencing, prosecutors have cited him for committing “threatening” prison sentences during the trial.
Jennifer Crumbley seen entering court shortly before she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on February 6, 2024
Police say Crumbley’s first victim was freshman Phoebe Arthur (pictured), who was shot in the face but miraculously survived. A total of eleven people were shot, four of whom died
Madisyn Baldwin, 17, (left) and Hana St Juliana, 14, (right) died during the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit
Justin Shilling, 17, (left) and Tate Myre, 16, (right) also died in the senseless shooting
In their request for a more lenient sentencing, Jennifer’s attorney said she is “extremely distraught and remorseful” over the shooting.
In a separate filing, James Crumbley’s attorney said the father has “expressed deep remorse” for his role in the tragedy and asked that he be sentenced to 28 months in prison, with time served in addition to a maximum period of supervision.
As an alternative, the lawyer demanded a prison sentence of 43 months minus the time served.
James was cut off from everyone except his legal team during his trial after making a series of “threatening” phone calls to the prison, including saying prosecutors would face “retaliation.”
His lawyer denied that his calls were threats, insisting that James was “at worst involved in frustrated verbal abuse.”
During James’ trial, jurors heard that he bought his son the Sig Sauer 9mm firearm used in the shooting during a Black Friday sale four days before the school shooting, and Jennifer took it the day after the purchase to the shooting range.
James failed to secure the gun properly and only kept it in a key box that Ethan easily opened on the day of the shooting. During his trial he also heard that he kept other weapons locked only with the code ‘000.’
On the morning of the school shooting, teachers became concerned after finding alarming drawings and writings on his homework, including drawings of shooting victims around ‘the thoughts don’t stop… Help me’
One of the teenage killer’s trips to the shooting range with his father was shown to the court at James’ trial, eerily similar to the stance he took as he shot and killed classmates.
In one of Ethan Crumbley’s diary entries shown at the trial, Ethan wrote: ‘I have no help for my mental problems and it’s making me shoot up the damn school’
A significant portion of both parents’ trials was also spent at a crucial school meeting on the morning of the shooting.
Ethan’s teachers became concerned after looking at his math homework, in which he drew disturbing drawings of shootings and wrote, “The thoughts won’t stop, help me.”
Unbeknownst to the others in the room, Ethan had stolen the 9mm semi-automatic pistol from his house, which James had not locked up. It was learned at his trial that the cable lock for the gun was still in its packaging in the box.
James and Jennifer were brought into school to discuss the drawings, but both said they were ‘too busy’ to take it home and went back to work. Less than two hours later, Ethan opened fire.