Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of four counts of murder on Tuesday — the first parent in the US to be charged over a mass school shooting by their child.
Crumbley, a 45-year-old marketing director, was convicted for his role in the Nov. 30, 2021, mass shooting by his son, Ethan Crumbley, at Oxford High School that left four students dead along with six others and a teacher wounded.
The 12-person jury, made up of six men and six women, reached its verdict in Oxford, Michigan, on Tuesday after 10 hours of deliberating the case.
After the verdict was read, the judge thanked the jurors for their work in “the hardest thing you’ve ever done.”
After the verdict was delivered, Crumbley was placed in handcuffs and escorted out of the courtroom by two police officers.
James Crumbley, Ethan’s father, will be tried on similar charges separately at a later date.
The jury was left with significant evidence and testimony to ponder after hearing from 22 witnesses, including Crumbley, over the past week.
Prosecutors said Crumbley made the gun accessible to his son, ignored his mental health issues and refused to take it home when confronted with his violent drawing at school on the day of the shooting.
Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of four counts of murder on Tuesday. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Crumbley is the first parent in the US to be charged and convicted of a mass shooting by their child. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
They argued Crumbley should have informed school officials that his family owned firearms, including a 9mm handgun that his son used at the shooting several days before school officials became concerned about his behavior — and then used in his attack.
Jennifer and James are called to school for a meeting after a teacher finds disturbing drawings of guns, bullets and injured men accompanied by despairing phrases on Ethan’s math assignment.
After a 12-minute meeting about their son’s troubling behavior, they chose to let him stay in the classroom. A few hours later, he pulled a 9mm pistol from his backpack and shot 11 people.
Ethan Crumbley, 17, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. AP A violent drawing made by Ethan Crumbley before the shooting. AP prosecutors accused Crumbley of making the gun accessible to his son and ignoring his mental health issues. AP Crumbley was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs after the conviction. AP
“He really painted a picture of what he was going to do. It said, ‘Help me,'” prosecutor Karen McDonald said during closing arguments Friday.
Jennifer Crumbley knew the gun her son pulled out was the same gun in the house, McDonald said.
The parents were also accused of neglecting their child’s mental health problems, which were detailed in a police journal found in his backpack following the massacre.
James and Jennifer Crumbley are the first parents to be prosecuted in the US for their child’s mass shooting. AP
During cross-examination, prosecutors took issue with Crumbley’s claim that he was a “very careful helicopter parent” who was “close” to his son, arguing that he was too busy to notice his deeply disturbed mentality amid his affair with a member a married firefighter.
Crumbley and her boyfriend Brian Meloche often looked for strangers on a swingers app called Adult Friend Finder and arranged “meetings” at hotels after work, prosecutors argued.
Although Jennifer admitted to using the app to “arrange for other people to meet us,” she claimed she would go to the hotel after work “for business.”
Prosecutors argued Jennifer Crumbley ignored her son’s desperate pleas for help amid his affair with a firefighter. Getty Images
“I only met Brian at work,” said the mother, who was working for a real estate company at the time.
Not only did Jennifer Crumbley spend her time seeing her firefighter boyfriend, but she would be gone for hours each week, either skiing or horseback riding, prosecutors said.
Crumbley argued that his son “didn’t like horses,” but prosecutors claimed in court Friday that he was so busy with his hobby, he neglected his son.
Crumbley and her boyfriend Brian Meloche often find strangers on a swingers app called Adult Friend Finder. Facebook / Brian Meloche
Prosecutors pointed to text message exchanges between Jennifer and Ethan in which the word “love” appeared only three times over the years.
They also revealed excerpts from his journal, where he wrote, “My parents won’t listen to me about help or [a] therapist,” and “I have no help for my mental problems, and it’s causing me to f–king up school.”
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The diary entries seemed to surprise the mother, who said she had never read his journal before or monitored his internet activity.
Crumbley also argued that it was her husband who decided to buy their son, who was 15 at the time, the gun he would use in the massacre – although he admitted he did not object to the purchase at the time.
Four students died and six others were injured, including a teacher. Getty Images
Ethan Crumbley, now 17, pleaded guilty to murder and violence and was sentenced in December to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Both of Crumbley’s parents have been jailed for more than two years, unable to post $500,000 bond pending their trial.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
