Ethan Crumbley, who fatally shot four students at a Michigan high school in 2021, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole, a judge ruled Friday.
Ahead of his sentencing, the 17-year-old admitted that he was “a really bad person.”
“I am a very bad person. I have done terrible things that no one should do,” he told the court, CNN reported.
Ethan Crumbley looked down as he was sentenced to life in prison. POOL Crumbley stood and faced the court before being sentenced. AP Crumbley was escorted by sheriff’s deputies after being sentenced. AP
Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, opened fire at Oxford High School outside Detroit on November 30, 2021, killing four students: Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17. Seven others were injured.
He pleaded guilty last October to all 24 charges against him, including first-degree murder and terrorism. Just two months ago, a judge ruled that the teenager deserved life in prison – the harshest sentence possible in Michigan.
The sentence came after emotional testimony from witnesses earlier in the day as Judge Kwame Rowe pondered Crumbley’s fate.
Buck Myre, father of victim Tate Myre, said he had worn his grief “like a heavy coat.” AP
“We are 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’s father, Buck, told the teenager.
Baldwin’s heartbroken mother recalled seeing her daughter’s lifeless body in the medical examiner’s office after the shooting.
“I look through the glass. My scream should have broken it,” said Nicole Beausoleil.
Mother Shilling tells Crumbley, who sits with his head down, that he killed someone who could have been a friend when he needed one the most.
Ethan Crumbley is shown on the shooting range in a video shown in court. AP
“If you’re so lonely, miserable and lost, and you really need a friend, Justin will be your friend – if you ask,” said Jill Soave.
“You may have caused as much pain and fear as you wished to do, but you did not destroy us,” he added.
Sister St. Juliana talks about the things she hopes to be able to do with him when they grow up, like thrift shopping and speaking at each other’s weddings.
“Instead of speaking at her wedding, I spoke at her funeral,” said Reina St. Juliana is full of emotions. “Instead of fishing her hair for the game, I rolled her hair in the casket.”
Crumbley posted a picture of the gun on social media. Instagram Kylie Ossege, 19, describes how she has urged Hana St. Juliana “a thousand times” to keep breathing after she was shot. AP
The night before the massacre, Crumbley recorded a manifesto claiming he was “going to be the next school shooter” and said he planned to kill as many people as possible.
He also wrote a disturbing journal entry in which he dreamed about shooting up a school. Crumbley wrote that he did not want to die and wanted to be remembered.
Crumbley and her parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, met with school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher found some gruesome journal entries, including a gun pointed at the words, “Thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
He was allowed to stay at school after his parents refused to take him home, and his bag, which contained a gun, was never searched.
Baldwin, Myre abd St. Juliana was shot dead on the day of the massacre. Shilling died of his injuries in hospital the following day.
Ethan Crumbley heard from his victim’s family and survivors of the mass shooting before a judge ruled that he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. AP
Attorney Ven Johnson, who represents the four victims who died, called Friday’s verdict “an important step toward justice for our clients and all survivors.”
“Despite being delayed for two years, the dire situation continues, and this sentence is an important step towards accountability,” he said in a statement.
“We wholeheartedly support Judge Kwame Rowe’s decision to sentence him to life in prison without parole.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
