Oxford school shooter to get big news in 10 days. But what about his parents?
Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley will learn his fate before Christmas: His sentencing date has been scheduled for Dec. 8.
And the key issue — whether he is eligible to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole — will be decided even sooner: in 10 days, to be exact.
According to court filings, Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe will issue that decision on Sept. 29, more than a month after sitting through weeks of grueling testimony from health experts, police, and students and staff who witnessed the horror of Crumbley's rampage on Nov. 30, 2021, during which he killed four classmates and injured seven other people.
The witnesses were part of Crumbley's mandatory Miller hearing, which is designed to help the judge decide whether a life without parole sentence is appropriate for Crumbley, who was 15 when he carried out the massacre.
The defense has argued Crumbley is too young to be locked up forever, and deserves a chance to turn his life around and prove himself worthy of freedom one day. But the prosecution maintains he has forfeited the right to live freely again for murdering four classmates — two execution-style — injuring others and terrorizing an entire community in a massacre he planned out in his journal and in a manifesto that he recorded the night before the shooting.
Crumbley parents' case timeline is less clear
Meanwhile, the fate of the shooter's parents remains in limbo, and could remain uncertain for some time depending on what the Michigan Supreme Court says about the charges against James and Jennifer Crumbley, the first parents in America charged in a mass school shooting.
The state's highest court has yet to weigh in on the Crumbleys, who haven't spoken to or seen their son in person in almost two years as they are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for their alleged roles in the students' deaths. The parents are accused of ignoring their son's mental health issues and buying him a gun instead of getting him help — the same gun that their son used to shoot up Oxford High School.
The prosecution also maintains that the parents, more than anyone else, could have prevented the massacre had they informed the school that they had bought their son a gun when they were summoned to the school on the morning of the shooting about their son's troubling behavior. The couple said nothing and went back to their jobs. A few hours later, Crumbley emerged from a bathroom and opened fire with a gun — the same one his parents gave him days earlier as an early Christmas present.
The defense has fought for almost two years to get the case thrown out against the parents, arguing the charges are unwarranted, overreaching, and could set a dangerous precedent for parents everywhere who could be held liable for the misdeeds of their children. The defense has long argued that the parents never knew their son was going to carry out a school shooting that day — a key point that, it maintains, the prosecution can never prove.
Since the Crumbleys were charged, the defense has argued repeatedly that there was no probable cause to bind the couple over for trial. To date, the courts have ruled against the Crumbleys, who still hope for a win before the Michigan Supreme Court.
The high court may be releasing its opinion in the coming weeks if a recent news release is any indication. The release states that the Michigan Supreme Court is set to begin its new session in October, with oral arguments in 12 cases set to begin on Oct. 4 at the state Capitol.
The Crumbleys' case is not among those new cases.
Meanwhile, James and Jennifer Crumbley are each locked up on $500,000 bond in the Oakland County Jail, where their son is also being detained. However, the family members are prohibited from talking to one another pending the outcomes of their cases.
Catch up: Oxford school shooter's long, emotional hearing ends with drama, name calling and outrage
Parent perspective: Father of slain Oxford student Tate Myre: ‘We can’t unwatch’ surveillance video footage
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ethan Crumbley to get big news in 10 days. What about his parents?
