OAN’s Taylor Tinsley
11:00 AM – Friday, November 3, 2023
The mother of the gunman who carried out a shooting at Michigan’s Oxford High School in 2021 is blaming her husband for helping their son obtain a gun.
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According to a court filing on Monday, prosecutors allege that Jennifer Crumbley has been telling other inmates that her husband, James Crumbley, is to blame for purchasing the gun that their son used to kill four students and injure seven others and he ignored their son’s mental health issues.
Prosecutors argue that Ethan Crumbley had complained to his father about needing to see a doctor over his mental health.
17-year-old Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to 24 counts in October 2022, nearly a year after he killed students Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, and Justin Shilling.
In late September, a judge also ruled that the Michigan teenager is eligible to be sentenced to life without parole.
Given Crumbley’s age, juveniles cannot be sentenced to life without parole in the state without prosecutors proving to the judge that it’s the appropriate sentence.
James and Jennifer Crumbley have each been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
It’s rare for parents to be charged in school shootings. After the shooting, James and Jennifer withdrew thousands of dollars from an ATM before shutting their phones off, ensuing a frantic manhunt. After hours of searching the pair were found hiding in a commercial building in Detroit.
In a 2022 court filing prosecutors said “Put simply, they 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.”
Records show the elder Crumbley’s are due to appear in court in January 2024.
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