Michigan Supreme Court declines to hear appeal by parents of Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley

Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal brought by the parents of teenage school shooter Ethan Crumbley in a case charging them with manslaughter.

James and Jennifer Crumbley face charges in connection with their son's shooting spree at Oxford High School that killed four students and injured six others in 2021. The Crumbleys have been fighting to get the charges dismissed, charging that Oakland County 52-3 Circuit Court Judge Julia Nicholson erred in sending it to trial.

The Michigan Court of Appeals earlier sided with Nicholson and the Supreme Court opted not to question either ruling, writing that they were "not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed by this court."

The Crumbleys became the first parents in the United States to be criminally charged in a mass shooting carried out by one of their children. Prosecutors are trying to hold them criminally liable for buying their son the gun that he used in the massacre, and, for never telling the school about the weapon when they were called to the school over his troubling behavior.

The Crumbleys each face four involuntary manslaughter charges in the deaths of Oxford students Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; HanaSt. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.

The Crumbleys, though, have long argued that the gun was always properly stored and they could not have possibly known their son was planning to pull off a mass shooting at the school.

The Michigan appeals judges said, though, that Ethan Crumbley's actions were "reasonably foreseeable" given the past concerns brought up by school officials and other actions.

The court ruled just days after another Michigan judge ruled last week that Ethan Crumbley could be eligible to be sent the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with the shooting.