School shooter gets rare life sentence without parole

He was 15 at the time. I see both sides of the theoretical argument as far as sentencing minors. But when the crime is a mass shooting, at a school no less, obviously that’s a different ballgame even from a regular homicide case. There is no coming back from that imo. Even if he was hypothetically “reformed” and released at 57, what would he do? In a case like this, life without parole is the only real option, even if you otherwise believe in rehabilitating minors and 2nd chances.

Of course then you might ask, where is the line? What if the mass shooter was 12 (a likely inevitable scenario). Then what? Unfortunately the answer is probably the same. I’m glad the parents are being held accountable too, due to their incredible actions in this specific case. Hopefully they get convicted and have to book thrown at them, to the extent possible.

 

Yeah he deserves to die in jail.

 

It's kind of ironic because a 15 year old with no prior offenses is probably the most likely candidate for successful rehabilitation. Not that I'm advocating for that.

 

Any pos that does that should never see the light of day again.

 

Some things you just can’t undo or rectify. He ended his own life along with those students’ lives.

 

When you get a gun and randomly kill forever a bunch of people, you've crossed a line - I don't care for what reason, e.g., youth, mental illness - and have forever forfeited your right to live amongst us.

 

Should be interesting to see what sentence his parents get

 

They are charged with involuntary manslaughter, which is a max of 15 years in MI.

Apparently they’ve been in jail since 2021 due to not being able to afford the bond of $500,000. Had no idea. So even if they are convicted, unless they get something approaching the max they may already have a good chunk of “time served”. If they are somehow not convicted, I guess at least they got to stay in jail for awhile.

 

Each, however, is charged with 4 counts. The mother was just convicted of all 4. IF the sentences were to be run consecutively, the maximum exposure is 60 years. I'm not saying that will or should happen, just that it is a legal possibility.

 

More likely that she will be sentenced to the minimum sentence on each count to run concurrently.

 

I wouldn't bet the farm on that. The fact the judge kept her (and her husband's) bond at $500,000 is significant. There were several unsuccessful attempts to lower it, including putting her on a GPS monitor, that were all denied. There will be a lot of pressure on this judge to "send a message."

James, Jennifer Crumbley seek lower bond again: We never tried to flee

 

From a link within your link. This is is really sad, infuriating, etc. I suppose the parents were either concerned about the stigma associated with having a son with a mental health condition or they just didn't believe him. Having hallucinations doesn't seem like something a person would normally lie about, but even assuming someone were lying about that, it would be a clear sign to me that there's a very serious issue of some sort. I am hesitant to second-guess parents at every turn, but I can't imagine anyone in my life telling me such things and not dropping everything immediately to talk to them. I doubt their dismissiveness would have risen to the level of a crime but for the gun issue, but that's another layer. I wonder whether schools could basically suspend a student or move to Baker Act them if the parents won't take action, but that's obviously got its own issues.

Ethan Crumbley's parents should stand trial for involuntary manslaughter, appellate court says | CNN

In the opinion, the judges cited text messages from the months before the massacre in which Crumbley told his parents about experiencing paranoia and hallucinations, including his belief that a demon was throwing objects around the house. When his mother didn’t reply, he sent her another message asking, “can you at least text back.” His mother did not text back that day and was riding horses with James at the time, according to the opinion.

Crumbley also told a friend that he believed he was having a mental breakdown and asked his parents for medical help but that his father told him to “suck it up” and his mother laughed, according to the opinion.

 

If I recall she and her husband were hiding an abandoned building ( a warehouse in Detroit) when they were apprehended. It seems that alone would have been indicative that she was a flight risk which explains the high bond. My guess is that bond would have been much lower if she voluntarily surrendered when she became aware that there was warrant for her arrest rather than going into hiding. Maybe it's just me her conviction and even a relatively short sentence should be enough to send a message.

 

That is addressed in the article I linked to. It wasn't an abandoned building, it was a friend's art studio where they were staying awaiting instructions from their attorneys to surrender themselves. They were scheduled to meet with their lawyers at 7:30 a.m. the following morning for 8:30 a.m court appearances. They were arrested at 11:20 p.m. that evening. They had not been staying at home due to threats of violence and relatives would not let them stay with them out of the same concern. They had plenty of time to leave the state, but they didn't. Suspects that are going to flee normally don't hire lawyers and remain in the same city.

I'm NOT suggesting they deserve harsh penalties, just that it is a distinct possibility.

 

Glad the mom was convicted, but I think the school screwed up royally in this, too, by not searching his bag and locker after his parents refused to take him home. They thought he was a danger that day and wanted to send him home, so you’d think that should have triggered a search.

 

Definitely some irony here with the parents being convicted, but likely released soon on time already served, yet the 15 year old gets life without parole. Sad situation. The parents clearly failed this kid.

 

Convicting the mother is wrong. People want retribution for what the son did. I get it. But she is not guilty of manslaughter. We should not let our desire to retaliate overcome our sense of justice.

 

gross negligence? She's def guilty of something. Practically put the gun in the kid's hand.