Michigan school shooter sentenced to life in prison without parole
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The judge says the defense team was attempting to have him receive a reduced sentence based on mental illness to no avail.
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Ethan Crumbley stands with his attorneys, Paulette Loftin and Amy Hopp, during his hearing at Oakland County Circuit Court, Aug. 1, 2023, in Pontiac, Mich. (AP)
Responsible for killing four classmates and injuring seven others at Michigan's Oxford High School in 2021, shooter Ethan Crumbley has been sentenced to life in prison without parole by Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe.
During the sentencing on Friday, Rowe declared, "Defendant shall serve life without the possibility of parole."
The defense team was attempting to have him receive a reduced sentence based on mental illness, according to the judge, who stressed that Crumbley was quite invested in violence and thoroughly planned to carry out the attack, indicating premeditated murder.
Crumbley said, during his sentencing, "Any sentence that they ask for, I ask that you do impose it on me because I want them to be happy... I want them to feel secure and safe. I do not want them to worry another day... I'm really sorry for what I have done."
Parents as accomplices
The high school, situated in a rural area in north Detroit, suffered the horrific actions of Crumbley who was taken into custody immediately after opening fire on fellow students.
According to Oakland Counter Undersheriff, Mike McCabe, on the day of the massacre, the sophomore student shot bullets, counting between 15 to 20 shots during the attack. "He didn't give us any resistance when he was taken into custody," McCabe said. "The whole thing lasted 5 minutes."
A month later, in December 2021, charges of involuntary manslaughter were filed by a Michigan prosecutor against the parents of the teen accused of killing four students at Oxford High School.
James and Jennifer Crumbley had not taken any action when faced with drawings and chilling messages written by their son at school, bought him a gun on Black Friday, and even resisted his removal from school when they were summoned a few hours before the shooting.
As for the shooting itself, the prosecutor said a teacher found Crumbley searching for ammunition on his phone on Monday, one day before the shooting. “Lol. I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught,” his mother told him in a text message.
A teacher found a drawing on the boy's desk on Tuesday of a gun pointing at the words "The thoughts won’t stop. Help me." There was another drawing of a bullet with the words "Blood everywhere" written above it, with another drawing of a person who was shot and bleeding. The teen also wrote "My life is useless" and "The world is dead," according to the prosecutor.
