PONTIAC, MI — The parents of the victims of a mass shooting in Michigan were steadfast observers at court hearings that led to three separate convictions of an entire family. One of their goals now is to see more change come from the 2021 tragedy at Oxford High School.
“We can put people on the moon. We can build skyscrapers, huge monuments like the Hoover Dam – and we can’t keep our children safe in schools,” said Steve St. Juliana, whose 14-year-old daughter, Hana, was killed by Ethan Crumbley.
“I think people just need to wake up and take action. Stop accepting the excuses. Stop buying the rhetoric,” St. Juliana said Thursday evening after the teenage gunman’s father was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
James Crumbley, 47, was found guilty five weeks after his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, 45, was convicted of the same charges at a separate trial in suburban Detroit. They were accused of failing to take critical steps, including safely securing a gun at home, that could have prevented their son’s attack.
Here’s what awaits the Crumbleys and what’s on the minds of families struggling with grief:
James and Jennifer Crumbley, the first American parents held responsible for a mass school shooting, will be sentenced on April 9. Ethan, now 17, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to murder and terrorism.
The maximum term in Michigan for involuntary manslaughter is 15 years in prison. But what is crucial are the minimum sentences that Judge Cheryl Matthews will impose. They can last up to ten years. After the minimum is served, the Michigan parole board may consider releasing the Crumbleys.
They will receive credit for the more than two years they have spent in the Oakland County Jail since their arrest.
Prosecutors said Ethan, who was 15 at the time, wanted help for his mental health, but his parents ignored him. On the day of the shooting, they went to the school to see his morbid drawing of a gun, a wounded figure and statements like, “The thoughts won’t stop.” Help me.”
Instead of taking their son home, the Crumbleys left with a list of mental health contacts and went back to work. A few hours later, Ethan pulled a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol from his backpack and started shooting.
The gun had been purchased four days earlier by James Crumbley, and mother and son had used it at a shooting range. Investigators said the firearm was not secured in the home; A cable lock was found in one package.
The school staff had not demanded that Ethan be taken home. But according to testimonies, they did not know anything about the new weapon or that it resembled the weapon in the drawing.
Prosecutors said the shooting was a foreseeable consequence of James Crumbley’s actions. His lawyer denied that.
“James was not aware that his son could or would harm anyone, or that he had acquired the means to do so. Obviously James feels terrible about what happened,” Mariell Lehman said after the trial.
James Crumbley decided not to testify, unlike his wife, whose time in the witness chair did her no good. Jennifer Crumbley told a jury she wouldn’t have done anything differently and believed she too was a victim.
“The first trial was about what kind of parent Jennifer Crumbley was,” said Terry Johnson, a Detroit-area attorney who watched the trials. ‘You heard about an affair. You’ve heard about horses. His character was not central, as in the first trial.”
Prosecutor Karen McDonald said that immediately after the Oxford massacre, investigators had an important question: Where did the teenager get a gun?
“And that led to many more questions,” she said, “and that led to disturbing, troubling and egregious facts.”
McDonald said “basic, reasonable, ordinary care” by the parents could have prevented the shooting, but instead the community has been devastated.
Affected families have in some ways become activists. Buck Myre, whose 16-year-old son Tate Myre was killed, said his family started a mentorship program to help children.
“Our children are not doing so well these days. We are in a mental health crisis,” Myre told reporters. “The gun is just a tool. We have to look at things other than the gun. We will see what we can do to better support these children.”
Nicole Beausoleil, the mother of murdered 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, said the focus must now shift to the Oxford school district — “the school and its failures, the things they don’t want to admit.”
“We will fight for our children here every second, because they should not forget any of them,” she said.
The school district hired an outside group to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting. A report released in October said “missteps at every level” — school board, administrators, staff — contributed to the disaster. Six students and an employee were also injured that day.
Lawsuits against district and school employees are pending in state and federal courts.
“We have to go for the big picture, close this case and hold everyone accountable,” said Craig Shilling, whose son Justin Shilling, 17, was killed in a school bathroom.
The Oxford shooting has already impacted one change in Michigan law. Gun owners should store unloaded firearms in a locked container when it is reasonably known that a child is likely to be present. Depending on the circumstances, the crime may be a misdemeanor or a misdemeanor.
A Flint man was recently charged under the new law after his 2-year-old daughter shot herself.
“The three prosecutions and convictions are crucial. But we will not solve gun violence with these three prosecutions,” McDonald said of the Crumbley family.
And she urged others in law enforcement to be aggressive when necessary.
“Be brave. Ask tough questions. And if they don’t answer, keep trying,” McDonald said.
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AP reporter Katie Foody in Chicago contributed to this story.
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