OXFORD, Mich. – James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the Oxford High School shooter, have been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
An Oakland County judge on Tuesday, April 9 handed down sentences for the Oxford shooter’s parents, who were each found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter this year. The Crumbleys have been ordered to serve 10-15 years in prison for their role in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting that left four children dead and seven people injured.
It’s the first time parents of a U.S. school shooter have ever been charged, convicted, and sentenced in connection with that shooting.
At two separate trials this year, jurors found James and Jennifer Crumbley guilty of gross negligence that contributed to the mass shooting carried out by their son. Prosecutors had long sought to prove -- and reiterated at Tuesday’s hearing -- that the shooter’s parents were grossly negligent over a period of time leading up to the shooting, and failed to intervene.
Prosecutors were ultimately able to convince the juries that the parents could have foreseen the shooting, and either took actions that they shouldn’t have, or didn’t act when they could’ve. Prosecutors argued the mass shooting was preventable, and that the shooter’s parents had the best opportunities to prevent it, including on the day of the shooting.
The evidence varied between the Jennifer’s and James’ trials, which were held in February and in March, respectively. Still, both juries agreed after hours of deliberations: Guilty on all counts.
The Crumbley parents faced a maximum prison sentence of 15 years in connection with their involuntary manslaughter convictions. The maximum sentence remains the same, despite each parent being convicted of four counts each.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office recommended a minimum of 10-15 years. The parents had been lodged in jail in Oakland County for two years prior to Tuesday’s sentencing.
Michigan’s sentencing guidelines recommend a short sentence for such crimes, about 3-5 years. Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews said a sentence that exceeded Michigan’s guidelines was warranted in this particular case.
After listening to a series of victim impact statements, Judge Matthews declared Tuesday that the parents would each serve 10-15 years with the Michigan Department of Corrections. They will get credit for 858 days they’ve already served jail, Matthews said.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were both charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the four students murdered by their son: 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana; 16-year-old Tate Myre; 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin; and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.
Oakland County prosecutors say James and Jennifer Crumbley were negligent toward their son by failing to provide proper care when he reported having hallucinations and struggling with his mental health. Instead, the parents purchased a handgun for their son, and failed to address concerns presented by school staff leading up to the shooting, prosecutors argued.
Gross negligence in Michigan means that a person willfully disregarded the results to others “that might follow from an act or failure to act,” according to the state. In this case, the parents were accused of demonstrating a significant lack of concern about their son’s emotional state and actions, and what he might do to himself or others without proper intervention from them.
From the trials
What is involuntary manslaughter?
Involuntary manslaughter is one of the lowest homicide-related charges someone can receive after a person is killed. Involuntary manslaughter happens when a person’s death resulted from another person’s negligent or criminal actions.
To qualify as involuntary manslaughter, the death was not intentional or planned by the accused, but rather technically accidental. Still, the person charged with involuntary manslaughter is believed to be responsible for the death, despite their intentions.
An involuntary manslaughter charge in Michigan is a felony and carries a punishment of up to 15 years in prison, and/or a fine of up to $7,500.
Though the parents have been convicted of multiple counts of involuntary manslaughter, they both still face a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. If they receive jail time for their crimes, the prison sentences for each count will run concurrently, or at the same time as one another.
Why parents had separate trials
Attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley filed motions on Nov. 13, 2023, requesting they stand trial separately for the four counts of involuntary manslaughter they face in connection with the Oxford shooting. They were initially set to be tried together as co-defendants starting on Jan. 23, 2024.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office filed their responses with the Oakland County Circuit Court the same day, expressing support for the motions filed by the couple. But while agreeing the parents are legally entitled to separate trials, prosecutors say two trials will have a negative impact for many groups of people.
“The People admit that the defendant is entitled to a separate trial because some of the evidence introduced against the codefendant at trial would be damaging to the defendant,” the prosecutors’ filing reads. “Separate trials in this case come at significant cost to victims, witnesses, taxpayers, and the additional jurors who will serve. But the Constitution affords the defendant that right, and the People agree that the defendant is entitled to a separate trial.”
In their filings on Nov. 13, prosecutors said they agree that a conflict exists as it relates to jointly trying the shooter’s parents, but also said they raised the issue of a potential conflict on several occasions more than a year ago. Prosecutors previously sought to ensure the defendants knew of this conflict as they agreed to be represented by two separate attorneys who work under the same firm.
The judge ruled in favor of the parents, deciding that they can stand trial separately. Jennifer Crumbley stood trial first beginning at the end of January. James Crumbley stood trial second, beginning on March 7.
---> Conviction of Oxford shooter’s parents ‘just the beginning’ for parents of murdered students
Shooter sentenced to life in prison
The Oxford High School shooter was sentenced on Dec. 8, 2023, to life in prison without the chance for parole for murdering four students, injuring seven people, and launching a terrorist attack in 2021.
After hours of emotional testimony delivered at the shooter’s sentencing hearing, Oakland County Judge Kwamé Rowe handed down the harshest possible sentence to the now-17-year-old shooter. Just following the two-year anniversary of the Nov. 30, 2021 massacre, the shooter was sentenced to a life in prison for the 24 felonies he’s been convicted of.
The shooter will not ever be eligible for parole.
“The terror that he caused in the state of Michigan, and in Oxford, is a true act of terrorism. Respectfully, the defendant is the rare juvenile before this court,” Judge Rowe said, referencing the rarity of sentencing a minor to life in prison.
The judge said the court believes the sentence of life in prison is “in the best interest of justice, as well as proportionate to the needs of this case.”