Mother of School Shooter Guilty in Manslaughter Trial

In a closely watched case, the mother of a school shooter in Michigan has been found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Jurors delivered the verdict Tuesday after 11 hours of deliberation in the case of Jennifer Crumbley, 45, reports the Detroit News. Prosecutors say Crumbley and her husband, James, ignored signs of son Ethan Crumbley's mental health problems even as they bought him a gun days before the mass shooting. The case could be precedent-setting: This was the first time a parent has been held directly responsible for a mass shooting by their child, per the Wall Street Journal.

The Crumbleys—James faces trial on the same charges in March—"didn't do any number of tragically small and easy things that would have prevented all of this from happening," said prosecutor Marc Keast, per the New York Times. Defense lawyer Shannon Smith countered that Jennifer Crumbley was a "hypervigilant mother." She faces 15 years in prison for each count at her sentencing in April, per NBC News.

Ethan Crumbley, now 17, is serving a life sentence for killing four of his classmates at Oxford High School in November 2021. The victims were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14. Seven others were injured. (More Jennifer Crumbley stories.)