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Ethan Crumbley’s parents were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years behind bars Tuesday for their son’s 2021 massacre that left four students dead — the first time parents have been sentenced in a US mass school shooting.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were handed down the prison time by Judge Cheryl Matthews in a Pontiac, Michigan courtroom after they were found guilty on involuntary manslaughter charges at separate trials in March and February, respectively.

“These convictions are not about poor parenting, these convictions confirm repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train, about repeatedly ignoring things that would make a reasonable person feel the hair on the back of their neck stand up,” Matthews said before announcing the sentences.


  Ethan Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison for manslaughter. AP Photo/Ed White Ethan Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison for manslaughter. AP Photo/Ed White

  Ethan Crumbley is behind bars for life for the shooting that killed four students. AP Ethan Crumbley is behind bars for life for the shooting that killed four students. AP

The convictions are the first time in US history parents have been held accountable for a school shooting carried out by their child.

They were convicted for failing to intervene despite obvious warning signs their son was troubled and for failing to keep a gun locked away in their home.

The judge blamed Jennifer for glorifying owning guns and for her “dispassionate and apathetic” attitude toward Ethan.


  The Crumbleys are the first parents in America to be convicted of charges in relation to a school shooting committed by their child. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images The Crumbleys are the first parents in America to be convicted of charges in relation to a school shooting committed by their child. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

  The parents ignored warning signs from Ethan and failed to keep a gun locked away in their house. Law&Crime Network The parents ignored warning signs from Ethan and failed to keep a gun locked away in their house. Law&Crime Network

“Each of the defendants’ gross negligence has caused unimaginable suffering to hundreds of others,” the judge said.

Prosecutors had asked Judge Matthews to put James, 47, and Jennifer, 46, away for at least 10 years for the rampage that killed four students, injured six more and also injured a teacher at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021.

Both parents, who’ve been locked up for the two-and-a-half-years since their arrests, asked for no additional prison time. Jennifer requested she be released with GPS tracking to live with her lawyer.


  Jennifer Crumbley told the court before her sentencing that she had no idea what her son Ethan was capable of doing. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio Jennifer Crumbley told the court before her sentencing that she had no idea what her son Ethan was capable of doing. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

Speaking before the sentencing, Jennifer — wearing black and white jail clothes — was allowed to address the court, where she said she had found god and claimed she had no idea what her son was capable of.

She said: “The gravity and weight this has taken on my heart and soul cannot be expressed in words, just as I know there is nothing I can say to ease the pain and suffering of the victims and their families.

“If I even thought my son would be capable of crimes like these, my actions would have absolutely been different …He was not the son I knew when I woke up on Nov. 30. The Ethan I knew was a good quiet kid.”


  James Crumbley apologized to the court for the pain caused by his son. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio James Crumbley apologized to the court for the pain caused by his son. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

  James Crumbley denied knowing that his son was planning a shooting. APAP Photo/Ed White James Crumbley denied knowing that his son was planning a shooting. APAP Photo/Ed White

James — wearing orange jail scrubs — was also given an opportunity to speak from the defense table where he emotionally apologized for the “pain and agony” his son had caused.

“Part of you will be missing forever but please know I am truly very sorry. I am sorry for your loss as a result of what my son did. I cannot express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him or what was going to happen.

The case against Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents

“You know that what my son did. I was not aware of that or that he was planning it or that he obtained access to the firearms in my house, there is no evidence that suggested that,” he said.

Addressing Judge Matthews, he added: “I’m simply going to ask that you sentence me in a fair and just way.”


  Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

Before the Crumbley parents spoke, family members of the slain students — Justin Shilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Tate Myre, 16 — told the judge about the devastating toll the shooting has had on their lives. 

Baldwin’s mom, Nicole Beausoleil, through tears said she wishes she could have taken “the bullet that day so [Madisyn] can continue living the life she deserves.”

“You failed as parents,” Beausoleil said to the Crumbleys. “The punishment that you face will never be enough, it will never bring her back.”

Shilling’s parents, Jill Soave and Hank Shilling, both asked Matthews to impose the maximum sentence possible for the agony the Crumbleys caused them.

“The blood of our children is on your hands too,” Hank Shilling said to the two Crumbleys.

And St. Juliani’s older sister, Reina blasted the Crumbleys for failing as parents and for causing the victims’ “everlasting nightmare.”

Instead of giving quality time and compassion, you gift your son a gun,” Reina said.

Reina and Hana’s dad, Steve St. Juliania said his daughter’s murder “has destroyed a large portion of my very soul.”

At their trials, jurors heard testimony about how the parents went to the school the day of the shooting to discuss a violent drawing found on Ethan’s math assignment with officials. The pictures showed a gun, a bullet and a person bleeding with the words, “Blood everywhere,” and “The thoughts won’t stop — help me.”

But James and Jennifer didn’t take Ethan, then 15, out of school that day, instead returning to work after the school gave them list of mental health services, according to trial testimony.


  Jennifer Crumbley at a shooting range with her son in 2021. Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool Jennifer Crumbley at a shooting range with her son in 2021. Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool

Staffers didn’t insist Ethan be removed from school grounds but they also weren’t aware that the parents had bought their son a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun only four days earlier, which looked like the gun in Ethan’s drawing, jurors learned at trial.

Ethan, now 17, copped to murder and terrorism charges and is serving a term of life imprisonment without parole.

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