PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) 鈥� The father of a Michigan school shooter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, a second conviction against the teen鈥檚 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 in 2021, even without pulling the trigger.
They had separate trials as the in a mass school shooting committed by their child. Jennifer Crumbley was
The verdicts 鈥� one each for the four victims 鈥� were read around 7:15 p.m. at the end of a full day of deliberations.
James Crumbley heard the outcome through headphones worn throughout the trial because of a hearing problem. He shook his head from side to side as the jury foreman said 鈥済uilty.鈥�
鈥淭hank you, ladies and gentlemen,鈥� Judge Cheryl Matthews told the jury of six men and six women. 鈥淚 know how hard this has been on all of you.鈥�
Prosecutors focused on two key themes at the trial: the parents鈥� response to a morbid drawing on Ethan Crumbley鈥檚 math assignment a few hours before the shooting, and the teen鈥檚 access to a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun purchased by James Crumbley only four days earlier.
Ethan made a ghastly drawing of a gun and a wounded man on a math assignment and added disturbing phrases, 鈥淭he thoughts won鈥檛 stop. Help me. My life is useless.鈥�
But James and Jennifer Crumbley declined to take Ethan home following a brief meeting at the school, and staff didn鈥檛 demand it. A counselor, concerned about suicidal ideations,
Ethan had told Shawn Hopkins that he was sad over the death of his dog and grandmother and the loss of a friend who had abruptly moved away. He said the drawing was simply his jottings for a video game and that he wasn鈥檛 planning to commit violence.
Neither he, nor his parents, told school officials about the gun they had just bought, according to trial testimony.
Hopkins had hoped Ethan would spend the day with his parents. But when that was ruled out, the counselor felt the teen would probably be safer around others at school.
Ethan later pulled the Sig Sauer from his backpack and began shooting that same day, killing Justin Shilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Tate Myre, 16. No one had checked the bag, though a school administrator had joked about its heaviness.
鈥淛ames Crumbley is not on trial for what his son did,鈥� prosecutor Karen McDonald told the jury. 鈥淛ames Crumbley is on trial for what he did and for what he didn鈥檛 do.鈥�
He 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 get a pass because somebody else鈥� actually pulled the trigger, she said.
Hopkins told the jury that James Crumbley showed empathy toward his son during the meeting about the drawing, but took no additional action.
When James Crumbley heard about the shooting, he rushed home from his DoorDash job and looked for the gun.
鈥淚 think my son took the gun,鈥� he said in a frantic 911 call.
Investigators found an empty gun case and empty ammunition box on the parents鈥� bed. A cable that could have locked the gun was still in a package, unopened.
Ethan told a judge when to murder and terrorism that the gun was not locked when he stuffed it in his backpack before school.
Defense attorney Mariell Lehman tried to emphasize that James Crumbley did not consent to any gun access by his son.
鈥淗e did not know he had to protect others from his son,鈥� she told jurors. 鈥淗e did not know that it was reasonably foreseeable that his son would commit these offenses. He had no idea what his son was planning to do.鈥�
There was no testimony from experts about Ethan鈥檚 mental health, and no records were introduced. The boy鈥檚 lawyers said before trial that he would invoke his right to remain silent if called to testify.
But the judge allowed the jury to see excerpts from the teen鈥檚 handwritten journal.
鈥淚 have zero help for my mental problems and it鈥檚 causing me to shoot up the ... school,鈥� Ethan wrote. 鈥淚 want help but my parents don鈥檛 listen to me so I can鈥檛 get any help.鈥�
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Ed White, The Associated Press
