Ethan Crumbley faces life in prison for Michigan school shooting
Ethan Crumbley, the teenager who killed four Michigan classmates in a 2021 shooting that also saw his parents charged, will learn Friday whether he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Crumbley was just 15 when he opened fire inside the halls of Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17, were fatally struck and and another seven people, including Kylie Ossege, were left wounded.
During an emotional victim impact statement, Ossege recalled hearing what she thought was the sound of a popping balloon before realizing she’d been shot. A bullet had shattered her clavicle, broke two ribs, and grazed her spine, causing a spinal cord injury that required a pair of surgeries as well as ongoing treatment.
“I fell right to the ground. I remember hearing screams. I saw running, but I couldn’t run. I was already down,” she told the court. “I realized what had just happened — I was just shot. I thought I was going to die.”
Unable to move, she remained on ground, warm and wet with blood, reciting her mother’s phone number and math problems in her head in a bid to stay lucid. Ossege noted that she was not alone on floor — St. Juliana was there too, “groaning beside me.”
St. Juliana’s sister, Reina, also addressed the court, talking of future memories they will no longer be able to make together.
“Instead of speaking at her wedding, I spoke at her funeral. Instead of fishtailing her hair for a game, I curled her hair in a casket,” she said.
Their father, Steve St. Juliana added: “There is absolutely nothing that the defendant can ever do to earn my forgiveness. His age plays no part. His potential is irrelevant.”
Crumbley pleaded guilty last year to 24 charges, including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death. While the conviction automatically makes an offender eligible for life without parole, Crumbley’s age triggered a separate hearing to determine whether his youth should be considered in sentencing. A judge ultimately ruled the punishment was appropriate despite his age at the time of the massacre.
“There is other disturbing evidence but it is clear to this court that the defendant had an obsession with violence before the shooting,” Rowe said.
Prosecutors have argued the premeditation of Crumbley’s attack justifies a life sentence. During his plea hearing in October 2022, the teen admitted to asking his father to buy him a specific gun. His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are accused of failing to intervene on the day of the massacre despite being called into the school for a meeting with administrators regarding their son’s classroom behavior.
A teacher reported Ethan to the principal after discovering a doodle of a gun, a person bleeding and words, “help me.” It also included a rendering of a bullet alongside the words “blood everywhere.”
Crumbley’s parents are each facing counts of manslaughter in connection with massacre.
With News Wire Services
