PONTIAC, Mich. – Oxford High School shooting survivors took the stand on the second day of a mandatory Miller hearing to determine if the shooter can be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Oxford shooter has been convicted of 24 felonies, some of which carry mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole. The pre-sentencing hearing is a requirement that orders courts to consider minors differently than adults when they’re facing life in prison.
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Two students who witnessed the shooting testified on Friday. A 17-year-old girl spoke of how she survived standing in the middle of the shooting without any physical wounds and helped a fellow student who had suffered two gunshot wounds.
A boy who was a freshman when the shooting happened also testified. He said he texted his family when he was alerted to the shooting and they told him to stay quiet and calm.
He said he was with Justin Shilling in a bathroom and Shilling told him to stand on top of a toilet and hide his feet, which he did. Shilling hid behind the bathroom partition, hoping the shooter wouldn’t find them -- but he did.
“He kicked the door open and it swung open,” the boy said.
He said the shooter looked at both of them, then left the bathroom. The boy said he texted his family again before the shooter returned.
The shooter pulled Shilling out of the stall at gunpoint. Shilling was one of the four students killed in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting. Hana St. Juliana, 14, Tate Myre, 16, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, were also killed.
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After he finished his testimony, one of Oxford’s assistant principals testified. She said she walked toward the shooting and found the shooter walking in the hall with his gun -- spoke with him -- but he didn’t respond and he walked away.
She said she immediately went to help Myre, who was on the hallway floor. She said she tried to revive him with CPR, but could not.
The hearing will resume at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.
---> Full coverage of the Oxford High School shooting