By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
PONTIAC, Mich. – A jury found James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford High School shooter, guilty on March 14 on four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Crumbley, 47, had pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter for his role in the deaths of Oxford High School students Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17.
Six other students and a teacher were wounded in the shooting.
The prosecution and defense presented closing arguments on Wednesday after testimony from law enforcement, school employees, shooting victims and other witnesses.
Crumbley now faces up to 15 years in prison. James’s wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty on the same four counts in February. Both are scheduled to be sentenced in April.
Their son previously pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first degree murder, in the shooting and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
James and Jennifer Crumbley’s trials are the first trials in the United States where a parent of a school shooter has faced charges for the shooting.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald argued that the Crumbley’s bear responsibility for the deaths because they were “grossly negligent” in giving a gun to their son, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, and failed to get him proper mental health treatment despite warning signs.
McDonald called 15 witnesses who testified for the prosecution in James Crumbley’s manslaughter trial, 14 of whom had testified at Jennifer Crumbley’s trial.
James’s trial focused heavily on how he failed to properly secure the family’s firearms and on the Sig Sauer pistol that prosecutors say he bought his son as an early Christmas present four days before the shooting.
Jennifer and James Crumbley were called to Oxford High School for a meeting about their son’s behavior and disturbing drawings he had in class. A school counselor testified he recommended the parents take their son home from school to get immediate mental health treatment but the Crumbley’s refused to do so.
In James Crumbley’s trial, the defense called only one witness. Karen Crumbley, the defendant’s sister, said that until the shooting she had never had a reason to be concerned about her nephew. James Crumbley did not testify on his own behalf.
Jennifer Crumbley took the stand in her own defense and expressed no regret, putting the blame on her son and husband, saying safely storing the gun was her husband’s responsibility.
“I’ve asked myself if I would have done anything differently, and I wouldn’t have,” she testified.