OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:16 PM – Friday, December 8, 2023
Ethan Crumbley, the Michigan school shooter, spoke in front of a judge in Oakland County on Friday and was soon after given a life sentence without the chance of parole. It has been two years since he shot and killed four students back in November 2021.
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After meeting with school officials and his parents that morning, Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time, entered Oxford High School on the morning of November 30th, 2021, carrying a pistol in his bag.
He later shot and killed Tate Myre, 16, Justin Shilling, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17.
“I am a really bad person. I have done some terrible things. I have lied, and I’m not trustworthy. I hurt many people,” Crumbley said on Friday when he was given a chance to speak before the court after hearing from both witnesses and victims.
He continued, saying that he was “sorry” for his choices and that he wanted his peers to “feel safe and secure.”
In October 2022, Crumbley entered a guilty plea to 24 charges, four of which were first-degree murder.
At a Miller hearing that started on July 27th, Oakland County prosecutors argued about whether the now-17-year-old might get a life sentence without the possibility of parole, a punishment usually reserved for criminals who are 18 or older.
“I can try my best in the future to help other people, and that is what I will do,” Crumbley said.
Additionally, Crumbley requested that Judge Kwame Rowe provide the victims with “any sentence” they want to request for him and his fate. Rowe agreed to the arrangement and sentenced the mass shooter to life in prison without the chance of release on Friday afternoon.
At a hearing on July 27th, Crumbley wrote in a notebook that was provided as evidence that he was “going to spend the rest of my life in prison rotting like a tomato.”
The shooting committed by Crumbley was referred to by Rowe on Friday as “torture” and “execution.”
This is the nation’s first criminal case in which a person is accused of terrorism following a mass shooting and is actually found guilty of the crime.
“Love is absent from our family because when you have no joy, you have no love,” said Buck Myre, one of the victim’s fathers. “Me and my wife are trying to figure out how to save our marriage, which is really sad because we didn’t do anything to each other.”
Nicole Beausoleil, Madisyn Baldwin’s mother, voiced to Crumbley through her tears that his “suffering will come” when he “least expects it.”
“As you get older, you will realize the path you’ve chosen, and it will haunt you,” she said in the courtroom.
The verdict on Friday, according to lawyer Ven Johnson, “signifies a pivotal step towards justice” for the victims and survivors who were “forever changed by the abhorrent actions of the shooter during the Oxford High School shooting—an incident that should have been prevented by those entrusted to protect these children.”
Johnson is representing multiple families in lawsuits against both Crumbley and his parents.
“Despite the two-year delay, the gravity of the situation endures, and this sentencing is a crucial stride towards accountability. We wholeheartedly support Judge Kwame Rowe’s decision to condemn him to life in prison without parole,” said Johnson. “Our dedication to pursuing justice stands resolute—our work to keep Oxford Community Schools and various OCS employees accountable will persist.”
During the July Miller hearing, Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald stated that Crumbley was caught on cameras approaching the victims and firing “at point-blank range” in the middle of the school’s halls.
“There was extensive planning, and… we hear that he put toilet paper in his ears to protect his hearing before the shooting,” McDonald said. “He researched and knew what kind of weapon he needed, and the one his parents already had for him was not going to do the job, so he advocated for a higher-power firearm with more deadly bullets. He practices. He went to the shooting range.”
Meanwhile, Crumbley’s defense lawyer said that the student had been exhibiting symptoms of serious mental illness for years before the shooting and that neither his parents nor the school administration had taken any action to assist him.
Additionally, they contended that he had the capacity for rehabilitation, pointing out that he takes doctor-prescribed medication and attends therapy sessions on a daily basis.
“We are all here because of me today. Because of what I did,” Crumbley said at the end of proceedings.
The now-17-year-old also mentioned that his actions are not the fault of his parents since they “did not know” what he would go on to carry out.
James and Jennifer Crumbley, the shooter’s parents, are also now being prosecuted on four charges of involuntary manslaughter. In a social media post, Jennifer Crumbley previously posted about how her son had received a pistol from them as a Christmas gift. Since then, their cases have been divided, and in January, their trials are scheduled to start.
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