(WXYZ) — Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter, will go to trial first on charges of involuntary manslaughter, 7 Action News has confirmed.
Jennifer and her husband, James, are each facing four charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting from November 2021. Their son shot and killed four students – Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling. They're charged with failing to stop their son from killing the students.
Jury selection will begin Tuesday in Jennifer's trial, and James' trial is set to begin on March 5, according to the court. Jury selection is expected to take several days, and could take longer due to the case's high-profile nature.
Legal experts nationwide are expected to watch the trials closely, as they’re likely to have far-reaching implications for how future school shooter cases are handled by prosecutors.
“It’s just such a terrifying thought as a parent, and I think that probably—consciously or subconsciously—fuels (Oakland County Prosecutor) Karen McDonald in bringing these charges,” said attorney Michael Bullotta.
Key evidence in the trials is expected to include how Ethan’s parents secured the gun he later used to commit the mass shooting along with his cries for help.
By charging each parent with involuntary manslaughter, the prosecution needs to prove two things: first, that the Crumbleys were grossly negligent—meaning they knew about the dangers posed by allowing their son access to a gun—and second, that the gun coupled with Ethan’s cries for help made the Oxford shooting a foreseeable tragedy.
“I think the jury’s first reaction is going to be…’Wow, I’m on this case where these four children died. It’s incredibly tragic, it’s unspeakable, it’s unimaginable,'” Bullotta said.
“(But) if it’s unimaginable, if it’s so tragic and so horrible and unusual, how can it be foreseeable?”
While involuntary manslaughter chargers are unprecedented in a case like this, there have been recent examples where parents of shooters have faced prosecution.
Last year, a 6-year-old Virginia boy shot his teacher using his mother’s gun. She was charged with using marijuana while possessing a firearm, and in November was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
That same month, the father of an Illinois man pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanor charges of reckless conduct after he helped his son obtain a gun that he later used to kill seven people. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
