Mum of Michigan school shooter found guilty for not stopping him | US News

In a landmark legal case, the mother of a Michigan high school gunman has been found guilty for failing to stop him from shooting four students dead.

Jennifer Crumbley, 45, had pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter in the November 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School.

A jury found the mom of Ethan Crumbley guilty of all counts on Tuesday afternoon after deliberating for more than 10 hours.

Jennifer is the first parent in US history to be convicted in a mass shooting carried out by their child. The verdict potentially opens the door for parents of young shooters in the future to be charged.

She faces up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors argued that she is responsible for the students’ deaths for being ‘grossly negligent’ in providing then-15-year-old Ethan with a gun. They said she did not give him proper mental health treatment when he displayed warning signs.

‘It’s a rare case that takes some really egregious facts,’ said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald during closing arguments on Friday. ‘It takes the unthinkable, and she has done the unthinkable, and because of that, four kids have died.’

The defense team had argued that Ethan, Jennifer’s husband who did not secure the gun, and the school failing to notify her about her son’s behavioral red flags were to blame.

‘Can every parent really be responsible for everything their children do, especially when it’s not foreseeable?’ said defense attorney Shannon Smith during closing arguments.

But Jennifer shockingly expressed no regret when she took the stand.

‘I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently,’ she said, ‘And I wouldn’t have.’

Jennifer’s trial exposed her private life including her affair with a fire captain and that she recruited people for hotel sex parties around the time of the massacre.

Her sentencing is slated for April 9.

Ethan was sentenced to life in prison without parole last year, for the shooting that also left six students and a teacher wounded.

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