OXFORD, Mich. – For Tate Myre’s father, this week’s verdict against Jennifer Crumbley, while a success, doesn’t provide much solace.
“It doesn’t bring Tate back,” said Buck Myre. “Personally, it doesn’t mean anything to our family. I think the prosecution team has done an amazing job, and we’re trying to set a precedent. This kid was mentally ill, and the parents bought him a gun.”
Myre and other Oxford parents see the accountability here as more than the Crumbleys buying their son a gun. They see a systemic failure at the school level.
They’re suing, but a judge has already ruled that the school district and staff are covered by governmental immunity.
The parents are hopeful attorney Ven Johnson can exert legal pressure here, win an appeal, and force a civil trial.
“We’re not guaranteed a win if we go to trial,” said Johnson. “All my clients have been asking for since day one is to hold everybody accountable.”
Myre and his fellow parents want that trial. It’s unclear whether it will ever happen.
For now, they’ve got the trial of James Crumbley up next. Myre told Local 4 that her abdication of any responsibility sticks with him the most from Jennifer Crumbley’s trial.
“The thing that really stood out to me was when they asked her if she would have changed anything and she said no, that’s crazy to me,” Myre said.