LANSING, Mich. (Scripps News Detroit) — A court’s ruling means that the parents of a gunman who killed four people and injured others at a Michigan school.
FILE – In this Feb. 8, 2022, photo, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, a teenager accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, appear in court in Rochester Hills, Mich. The Michigan Supreme Court turned down an appeal Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, clearing the way for the parents of the Oxford High School shooter to face trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)
The Michigan Supreme Court has denied an appeal submitted on behalf of James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley, who claimed there was not enough evidence for them to stand trial.
“On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the March 23, 2023 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered, and it is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed by this Court,” the Michigan Supreme Court said.
The attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley had filed an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in late March that the couple could stand trial in connection to the deadly Oxford High School shooting.
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The Crumbleys have been at the Oakland County jail for more than a year since their arrests.
FILE – Students hug at a memorial at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., Dec. 1, 2021. The Michigan Supreme Court turned down an appeal Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, clearing the way for the parents of the Oxford High School shooter to face trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Both were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. They are the first parents charged in connection with a mass shooting in the U.S. Their son opened fire, killing four students: Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling, and wounding others in Nov. 2021.
In October 2022, Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including one count of terrorism and four counts of first-degree murder.
A judge ruled in September that Ethan could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole following a Miller hearing. The shooter’s sentencing is scheduled for December.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Detroit, an E.W. Scripps Company.
