Crumbley Parents Lose Bid To Have Charges In School Shooting Thrown Out

LANSING, MI — James and Jennifer Crumbley will be the first parents to stand trial on charges in connection to a school shooting after the Michigan Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the couple seeking to get the charges thrown out.

Defense attorneys for the couple filed the appeal in March after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the couple can stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges in the deadly Oxford school shooting.

"On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the March 23, 2023 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered, and it is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed by this Court," the court said in its Tuesday ruling.

Jennifer and James Crumbley were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the deadly Oxford school shooting. The couple was placed separately in Oakland County Jail, each with a $500,000 bond. They were denied a bond reduction numerous times.

The couple's trial date has still yet to be determined.

Defense lawyers argued the couple should not be held responsible for the "independent acts" of their son, who pleaded guilty to killing four students at Oxford High School. Moreover, they said the couple can not be held accountable because they were not "directly involved" in the Oxford school shooting, and are not "responsible for the deaths of others."

Prosecutors, on the other hand, argued the charges are not overstep and say they have evidence proving gross negligence by the parents. Prosecutors claim the couple ignored disturbing warning signs from their son leading up to the deadly shooting, and instead of getting him help, they bought him a gun.

The Supreme Court's decision also comes after an Oakland County judge ruled Friday that their son, Ethan Crumbley will likely spend the rest of his life in prison without parole after fatally shooting four students and wounding seven other people at Oxford High School in November 2021.

Crumbely pleaded guilty to 24 counts, including four counts of first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism. The four students killed in the shooting were 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.