Jennifer Crumbley—the mother of a 17-year-old who killed four students in a 2021 Michigan high school mass shooting—was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, a jury ruled Tuesday, in a one-of-a-kind case that attempted to hold parents responsible for their child’s criminal actions.
Jennifer Crumbley is the mother of Ethan Crumbley, who killed four students at Michigan high school ... [+]
Jurors in Michigan reached their verdict after starting deliberations on Monday.
Prosecutors argued Crumbley and her husband failed to prevent their son from accessing the handgun used in the attack despite warning signs about mental health concerns, while Crumbley argued she didn’t realize the extent of her son’s mental health issues and couldn’t have foreseen the shooting.
Last week, Crumbley testified the weapon was a gift from herself and her husband, James Crumbley, and intended to be used when the family went to the gun range.
Ethan Crumbley, Jennifer Crumbley’s son, was sentenced to life in prison in December.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
The jury asked Judge Cheryl Matthews two questions during their deliberation, including one question to clarify if there were different ways to convict Crumbley, to which the judge answered yes, according to CNN. The second question the jury asked was if they could infer anything from evidence or witness that was not mentioned by the prosecution, and Matthews said they could only consider evidence included at trial, CNN reported.
Michigan School Shooter Sentenced To Life In Prison (Forbes)