James and Jennifer Crumbley face four counts of involuntary manslaughter each after their son, Ethan, killed four students at Oxford High School in 2021.

Ethan Crumbley was 15 when he opened fire at his suburban Detroit high school in November 2021, armed with a semi-automatic handgun that his parents helped purchase as an early Christmas present.

The rampage left four students dead and several others injured, shattering the close-knit community of Oxford, Michigan, and resulting last month in a life sentence without parole for Crumbley, who was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to two dozen counts, including for murder and terrorism.

Now, scrutiny falls on the teenager’s parents.

In a rare attempt to hold the parents of a school shooter criminally responsible, James Crumbley, 47, and his wife, Jennifer, 45, are each facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter and will be tried separately, with a trial set to open with jury selection in Oakland County on Tuesday.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    There were indeed signs. The school intervened and called the parents because he was having these homicidal ideations. The useless deadbeat parents’ genius idea? Get him a gun to vent his anger. They proceed to go back to basically ignoring him and going to bars while leaving him home alone all day routinely. All the while the bullying he was subject to at school continued.

    • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I say just toss em in a room with the parents of the other kids and let nature take its course.

        • lennybird@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Thanks for demonstrating a level of maturity and foresight that seems to otherwise be lacking here.

        • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          It is in America, which is why we still have the death penalty. I just proposed a different mode of execution.

            • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Still more then half the country which shows that, yep. America is a country where will kill as vengeance for crimes if they are bad enough.

              • lennybird@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                And you agree with this?

                Forget matters of innocent lives being put to death routinely; forget the fact that it does nothing in the way of deterrence or resolving the root problem.

                • EdibleFriend@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  yes and no. I fully believe some people should just be killed for what they have done. But…I don’t trust our government to get it right.

                  Like these parents? That knew their kid had serious mental issues and handed him a gun anyways which lead to him killing innocent kids? yeah. Fucking kill em. They are beyond saving and we will be better off without them.

      • billwashere@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Not to let them hurt each other but to scream and berate the shooters parents for being so mind numbingly stupid… yes that would be cathartic.