James and Jennifer Crumbley, Parents of Michigan School Shooter, Sentenced to 10 to 15 Years in Prison
James and Jennifer Crumbley were sentenced together after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials.
Apr. 9 2024, Published 12:45 p.m. ET
The parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison, RadarOnline.com has learned.
While James and Jennifer Crumbley were both found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials earlier this year, they were sentenced together.
James and Jennifer were sentenced to 10 to 15 years behind bars.
The Crumbleys' case is the first time the parents of a school shooter have been held directly responsible for their child's actions.
In court documents filed on April 3, Oakland County prosecutors asked the court to sentence each parent to 10 to 15 years behind bars. The judge sentenced the parents to the maximum sentence with credit for 858 days already served.
Prosecutors claimed both James and Jennifer showed a "chilling lack of remorse" over their son killing four classmates — Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17 — at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021.
Prosecutors claimed Ethan's parents showed a 'chilling lack of remorse.'
At the sentencing hearing, Jennifer addressed the court after emotional victim impact statements were read.
"I sit here today to express my deepest sorrows for the families of Hana, Tate, Madisyn, Justin and to all those affected on November 30, 2021," Ethan's mother began her statement.
Jennifer walked back previous statements she made in court, in which she claimed she could not foresee her son's actions. She said knowing her son was capable of killing four classmates, her answer at trial would "absolutely been different."
James asked that his time served be considered in his sentencing.
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James also addressed the court, in which he asked for time served to be considered. James said he was unaware that his son was planning a school shooting and asked the court to "sentence me in a fair way."
Ethan's father then repeatedly said "the truth" had not been presented in court.
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Ethan was previously sentenced to life in prison without parole.
In the sentencing memorandum, prosecutors included excerpts from James' jail calls after he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors alleged "his jail calls show a total lack of remorse, he blames everyone but himself" and noted repeatedly claims that he was being persecuted, as well as calling himself a "martyr."
"After he could no longer express his threats through jail calls because his privileges were revoked, he chose to gesture his middle finger toward the prosecution in the middle of the trial."
Jurors in both parents' trials found James and Jennifer were grossly negligent in allowing then-15-year-old Ethan to own guns, as well as overlook glaring signs of mental health issues.
James and Jennifer have been in custody since December 2021, when they were found at a Detroit warehouse after leading law enforcement on a manhunt after the school shooting.
Defense attorneys asked the court to sentence the parents to less than 5 years in prison. Jennifer's attorney asked the court to allow her to serve her sentence under house arrest, where she can be supervised in her defense attorney's home.
In December 2023, Ethan was sentence to life in prison without parole.
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