Michigan high school shooter Ethan Crumbley is to be sentenced later today after pleading guilty to killing four of his classmates.
The 17-year-old could be locked up with no chance of parole, a punishment that is being sought by prosecutors in Oakland County.
Judge Kwamé Rowe also could order a shorter sentence – anywhere from 25 years to 40 years at a minimum – that would eventually make him eligible for release by the state parole board.
The shooter pleaded guilty to all 24 charges in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting, which included first-degree murder and terrorism.
Students Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17, were killed in the rampage. Six students and a teacher were also wounded.
Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, will have an opportunity to speak in court and possibly explain why he believes he should be spared a life sentence.
The 17-year-old could be locked up with no chance of parole, a punishment that is being sought by prosecutors in Oakland County
Students Madisyn Baldwin, top right, Hana St. Juliana, bottom left, Tate Myre, top left, and Justin Shilling, bottom right, were killed in the rampage
Defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin has argued Crumbley deserves an opportunity for parole after his ‘sick brain’ is fixed through counseling and rehabilitation.
But after listening to testimony from experts, Rowe said in September that he had found only a ‘slim’ chance that Crumbley could be rehabilitated behind bars.
In a journal, the shooter wrote about his desire to watch students suffer and the likelihood that he would spend his life in prison. He made a video on the eve of the shooting, declaring what he would do the next day.
Crumbley and his parents met with school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher noticed violent drawings. But no one checked his backpack for a gun and he was allowed to stay.
Like their son, Jennifer and James Crumbley are locked up in the county jail. They are awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, accused of making a gun accessible at home and neglecting their son’s mental health.
Jennifer Crumbley has asked a court in Michigan to exclude evidence of her son’s alleged abuse of baby birds from her own criminal trial.
Fox reported that attorney Shannon Smith wrote in a motion on Monday: ‘The ‘bird evidence’ is so extremely disgusting, sickening, and appalling that its admission would certainly inflame the passions of a jury.
‘The jury will undoubtedly judge Mrs. Crumbley for the heinous acts of her son, which she knew nothing about.’
Court filings have indicated that her son had recorded himself on video torturing and killing animals including a bird.
Crumbley’s parents, James Robert Crumbley and Jennifer Lynn Crumbley, are awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges
Jennifer and James Crumbley are seen here in this photo from February 2022 after being charged
Attorney Ven Johnson claims that Crumbley kept a bird’s severed head in a jar and that he brought the head to school in a jar and placed it in the boy’s bathroom.
Johnson alleges in the federal filing that Oakland County School District staff ignored reports from students who saw the bird’s head.
Prosecutors say Crumbley expressed ‘delight’ in killing a family of baby birds and found ‘joy’ in hearing them squeal as they died.
According to Fox, the motion said: ‘It is clear that the shooter has mutilated baby birds on more than one occasion, texted a friend details about mutilating birds, video recorded himself doing so, and photographed vile and disgusting video of his actions.
‘The evidence makes it clear that the shooter intentionally hid all of the ‘bird evidence’ from his parents.’
James and Jennifer allegedly purchased a gun for their son just before the school shooting, with his mom claiming it was a Christmas present.
A memorial to the four victims of Ethan Crumbley’s shooting at the high school
A parent hugging a child following the active shooter situation at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021
Ahead of the sentencing, Shilling’s father Craig told CNN: ‘I personally feel that when you do something like that, that you should meet the same fate.
‘You can’t just pull the trigger on somebody and then walk away like nothing happened.
‘I actually, I don’t think he’s going to get what he deserves to get, but I feel like he’s going to be punished for the full extent that they can be, but then in my mind that is not enough.’
Shilling’s mother Jill Soave added: ‘I’m praying for life without parole. That would be the least amount of justice, you know, that I would consider for his actions.
‘Nothing is enough. You know, he gets to live, and my son doesn’t. So I’m never going to feel satisfied as a parent, but that is the maximum punishment allowed by the law. So I am praying that the judge will make that decision.’
In his final moments, Shilling had been hiding in a bathroom with another student Keegan Gregory who watched Crumbley murder the student.
Prosecutors say Crumbley expressed ‘delight’ in killing a family of baby birds and found ‘joy’ in hearing them squeal as they died
Chilling diary entries written by Crumbley include drawings of a gun being held to the head of a girl with the
On the day of the shooting, Crumbley and his parents had met with school staff after a teacher was troubled by drawings that included a bloody body and a gun pointing at the words, ‘The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.’
School officials said Crumbley talked his way out of trouble by claiming the drawings were part of plans to create a video game.
After the meeting, Crumbley was allowed to stay in school, about 40 miles north of Detroit, though his backpack was not checked for weapons.
He later emerged from a bathroom with a pistol and began firing on fellow students.
Police say Crumbley’s first victim was freshman Phoebe Arthur, who was shot in the face but miraculously survived. A total of 13 people were shot, four of whom died.
Prosecutors insisted Crumbley´s decisions can´t be mitigated by his young age or immaturity.
