DETROIT– A teenager convicted of a fatal shooting four students at his high school in Michigan is appealing life sentenceHis lawyers announced this on Friday.
Officials with the State Appellate Defender Office said in a statement that they have filed a request to re-sentence Ethan Crumbley.
Crumbley, now 18, pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including one count of terrorism and four counts of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December. He was 15 when the shooting occurred.
His lawyers said new evidence shows seven witnesses could have testified about Ethan’s troubled childhood, his mother’s alcohol abuse during her pregnancy and the possible impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder on Ethan, including how it could have hindered his maturation.
They said the evidence also raises questions about whether Ethan knew what he was doing when he pleaded guilty to the 2021 Oxford High School shooting, and emphasized that children can change.
“Life without parole for a child is unconscionable,” the office said.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond Friday to a message seeking comment on the appeal.
Judge Kwame Rowe said during sentencing that the shooting was well planned and that Crumbley had sufficient time to stop as he walked through the school. The judge said he was particularly concerned about how one victim was shot repeatedly and another had to watch as he shot a student at close range.
The teen’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were convicted of manslaughter earlier this year after prosecutors accused them of giving Ethan access to a gun, ignoring his mental health issues and refusing to take him home confronted with his violent drawings at school on the day of the attack.
They were the first American parents to be convicted of a mass school shooting committed by their child.