PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The father of a Michigan school shooter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, a second conviction against the teen’s parents who were accused of failing to secure a gun at home and doing nothing to address acute signs of his mental turmoil.
The jury verdict means James Crumbley has joined Jennifer Crumbley as a cause of the killing of four students at Oxford High School in 2021, even without pulling the trigger.
They had separate trials as the first U.S. parents to be charged in a mass school shooting committed by their child. Jennifer Crumbley, 45, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in February.
The verdicts — one each for the four victims — were read around 7:15 p.m. at the end of a full day of deliberations in Oakland County court.
James Crumbley, 47, who heard the outcome through headphones because of a hearing problem, slowly shook his head from side to side as the jury foreman said “guilty.” A sheriff’s deputy removed a dress tie from his neck, shackled him at the waist and returned him to jail.
Family of some of the fallen students wept quietly and gripped each other’s hands in the second row of the courtroom.
Later at a news conference, county prosecutor Karen McDonald stood next to them and praised their “unwavering courage” through extraordinary tragedy and grief.
“This verdict does not bring back their children, but it does mark a moment of accountability and will hopefully be another step to address and end gun violence,” McDonald said.
Defense attorney Mariell Lehman said James Crumbley “obviously feels terrible” about what happened at the school. He and his wife each face a possible minimum sentence of as much as 10 years in prison when they return to court April 9.
“While we are disappointed with the verdict, we know that the jury had a very difficult task in front of them.”
