Convicted school shooter Ethan Crumbley was made to listen to hours of heartbreaking accounts from the parents of the four children he killed and other victims in a Michigan courtroom Friday.
Survivors of his December 2021 shooting at Oxford High School near Detroit described struggling with the impact of the tragedy — as a judge considered whether the teenage gunman should spend the rest of his life in prison.
Emotions ran high at the sentencing hearing in Pontiac, Michigan, with many speakers lashing out at Crumbley — 15 at the time of the shooting and now 17 — demanding the harshest sentence allowed under the law for him.
“We wear pain like a heavy coat,” said Buck Myre, the father of Tate Myre, who was among the students killed by Crumbley in November 2021. “Every hour is the darkest hour of the day.”
Turning to face Crumbley, the grieving father tells his son’s killer: “Well, we’re miserable. Our family has a permanent hole in it that cannot be fixed, ever. And there seems to be no way out. So, until today, you won.”
Myre described the past two years as a journey through “complete hell” for him and his family.
Ethan Crumbley, who pleaded guilty to all 24 charges, could be locked up without the chance for parole. AP
Myre added that his family wanted Crumbley to spend the rest of his days “rotting in a jail cell.”
“Your statements are not being heard,” Judge Kwame Rowe assured survivors and loved ones who were present to express their grief publicly and demand justice.
Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Crumbley to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but because of his age, he could be given a shorter sentence – anywhere from 25 years to at least 40 years – which would eventually make him eligible for parole. .
Nicole Beausoleil recalled the heartbreaking moment she saw the body of her daughter, Madisyn Baldwin, in the medical examiner’s office, her hands with blue-painted nails sticking out from under the sheets.
“I look through the glass. My scream should have broken it,” Beausoleil said.
Jill Soave, Justin Shilling’s mother, told the shooter that he killed a boy who could have been his best friend in his time of need.
Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre, said he has worn his grief “like a heavy coat.” AP Crumbley looked down as family members of victims and survivors spoke in court. AP
“If you are so lonely, miserable and lost, and you really need a friend. Justin will be your friend – if you ask,” said Soave.
“You may have caused as much pain and fear as you wanted to, but you didn’t destroy us,” said Crumbley’s mother, who sat with her head down.
Justin’s father, Craig Shilling, shared with the court that he still finds himself waiting for his son to come home from work.
“There are no right words to describe the pain we feel every day. I have PTSD and struggle almost every day to get out of bed,” Shilling said, before asking the judge to give the teenage mass shooter the harshest sentence possible.
“Man’s blatant lack of decency and disturbing thoughts about life in general do not warrant a second chance. My son didn’t get a second chance, and neither should he,” Shilling said.
Shooting survivor Keegan Gregory, who was with Shilling in his final moments, said being trapped in the bathroom with the gunman and his dying schoolmate “was, and always will be, the scariest moment of my life.”
“We are trapped helpless and locked in defenseless. I was there when [Shilling] shot and killed, but I couldn’t do anything about it,” said Gregory.
The teenager said she made it out of the bathroom alive and saw bodies littering the floor and “blood everywhere.”
Steve St. Juliana told the court that there was nothing Crumbley could do to earn her forgiveness for killing her 14-year-old daughter, Hana.
“His age doesn’t play a role,” said St. Juliana. “The potential is irrelevant. There is nothing he can do to contribute to society that can make up for the life he has so cruelly taken.”
Hana’s sister, Reina St. Juliana talks emotionally about all the things she hopes to be able to do with him when they grow up, like going thrifting together, going on walks and speaking at each other’s weddings.
Kylie Ossege, 19, described how she urged Hana St. Juliana “a thousand times” to keep breathing after she was shot. AP
“Instead of speaking at his wedding, I spoke at his funeral,” he said. “Instead of fishing her hair for the game, I rolled her hair in the casket.”
Hana’s school friend Kylie Ossege, 19, described in detail how she urged the badly injured girl “thousands of times” to keep breathing as they waited for help on a blood-soaked carpet.
Ossege, now a college student, was shot and continues to struggle daily with pain from a spinal injury.
“Being able to swing my legs on my horse is my therapy. It was pure joy,” he said. “I couldn’t do it for two years.”
Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting, pleaded guilty in October to all 24 charges against him, including first-degree murder and terrorism.
Ethan Crumbley will hear from the families of the victims and survivors of the shooting before a judge decides whether he will be sentenced to life in prison. AP
He looked away when his loved one spoke Friday. He will have a chance to speak to the judge and perhaps explain why he believes he should be spared a life sentence for killing four students and injuring seven others.
Paulette’s defense attorney Michel Loftin argued that Crumbley deserves a chance at parole after his “sick brain” is fixed through counseling and rehabilitation.
But after hearing expert testimony, Rowe said in September that he found only a “slim” chance that Crumbley could be rehabilitated in prison.
Crumbley and his parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, met with school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher found several of his violent drawings, including a gun pointing to the words, “The mind won’t stop. Help me.”
But no one checked Crumbley’s backpack for a gun and he was allowed to stay at school after his parents refused to take him home.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are awaiting trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter, accused of making a gun accessible to their son at home and neglecting his mental health.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
