Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley is scheduled to be sentenced Friday two years after he fatally shot four students and injured seven others in November 2021.
Crumbley, at age 15, walked into Oxford High School the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, with a gun in his backpack and killed 16-year-old Tate Myre, 16-year-old Justin Shilling, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin — after meeting with school staff and his parents that same morning.
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison rotting like a tomato,” Crumbley wrote in notes that were revealed during a hearing on July 27.
He pleaded guilty in October 2022 to 24 counts, including four counts of first-degree murder. Oakland County prosecutors argued during a Miller hearing that began on July 27 to determine whether the now-17-year-old can be sentenced to life in prison without parole — a consequence typically reserved for adult offenders.
OXFORD SCHOOL SHOOTER ETHAN CRUMBLEY CAN BE SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR KILLING 4 STUDENTS
Crumbley, who killed four other students at a Michigan school in 2021, is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday. (Clarence Tabb Jr./Detroit News via AP, Pool, File)
Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe agreed in September that Crumbley could face such a sentence for the shooting that devastated the Oxford, Michigan, community.
It is the first criminal case in the country in which a defendant has been charged with and convicted of terrorism resulting from a mass shooting.
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Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said during the Miller hearing in July that video footage shows Crumbley walking up to the victims and shooting them “at point-blank range” in the middle of the school’s hallways. (Eric Seals-USA TODAY NETWORK)
Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said during the Miller hearing in July that video footage shows Crumbley walking up to the victims and shooting them “at point-blank range” in the middle of the school’s hallways.
“There was extensive planning, and … we hear that he put toilet paper in his ears to protect his hearing before the shooting,” McDonald said in July. “He researched and knew what kind of weapon he needed, and the one his parents already had for him was not going to do the job, so he advocated for a higher-power firearm with more deadly bullets. He practices. He went to the shooting range.”
Ethan Robert Crumbley, left, charged with first-degree murder in a high school shooting, poses in a jail booking photograph taken at the Oakland County Jail in Pontiac, Michigan. His parents also face charges tied to the shooting. (Oakland County Sheriff)
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Crumbley’s defense attorney, meanwhile, argued that Crumbley had shown signs of severe mental illness years prior to the shooting, and neither his parents nor school officials did anything to help him. They also argued that he has the potential to be rehabilitated.
“Ethan’s sick brain can be repaired,” attorney Paulette Loftin said in July, citing mental health experts who were called to testify during the Miller hearing.
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Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter after allegedly purchasing a firearm for their son. Jennifer Crumbley said in a social media post that the gun was a Christmas present for their son. Their cases have since been separated, and their trials are set to begin in January.
