LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – In a first-of-its-kind verdict, last month Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the shooting her son, Ethan Crumbly, committed at Oxford High School in 2021.
In December, Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life without parole for killing four of his classmates and injuring others in the 2021 Oxford shooting. Durring the hearing information came out that Ethan’s parents were aware he had been struggling mentally, but still purchased and allowed him access to a firearm. This led prosecutors to build a case against Crumbley’s parents.
That argument is what made the jury hand down a guilty verdict to Jennifer Crumbley on four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Jurors said the deciding factor was evidence that showed she had been the last person to access the firearm.
Professor Tonya Krause-Phelan, Associate Dean of Academics at Cooley Law School, explained that there are two kinds of legal precedents. The first is a legally binding precedent, usually set by an Appellate or State Supreme Court. The other is what Krause-Phalen said is coming into play in this case, a factual precedent.
“Factually it’s a precedent that will establish how people handle these kinds of investigations and prosecutions in the future. Legally, it’s not a binding precedent, yet.” Krause-Phalen said. “Going forward, they’re going to conduct investigations in the same manner. they may consider similar arguments if they decide to try parents and caregivers, or people who had custody and control over a minor child who committed a shooting.”
Krause-Phalen explained the precedent could mean investigators take a deeper dive into the student or family background, socials, and school records.
Krause-Phalen said a common criticism has been how this precedent may be more loosely applied to convict other parents of their child’s crimes. She explained that cases like this have strict applications, saying the facts of this case were extreme, and any future application would have to would have to be a very similar situation.
“In this particular case, there were some pretty egregious facts as to what the child was demonstrating from a mental health perspective, what the parents were aware of, and what the parents chose not to do anything about.”
Krause-Phalen says that despite similar evidence for Crumbley’s father, with a different defense team and jury, the verdits may still end up different. The hearing for James Crumbley has yet to start, he’s set to stand trial on March 5th.
