PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the Oxford High School shooter, were each sentenced to 10-15 years in prison on Tuesday with credit of just over two years for time served.
Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews sentenced James and Jennifer months after both were convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter related to the shooting.
Their son opened fire at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, killing four students – Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling – and injuring six other students and a teacher.
Victim Impact Statements
Families of the Oxford shooting victims, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling, made impact statements on Tuesday.
First to speak was Madisyn Baldwin's mother, Nicole Beausoleil, who said she keeps thinking about when Jennifer took the stand during her trial and said she wouldn't do anything differently.
"While your son was hearing voices and asking for help, I was helping Madisyn pick out her senior classes," she said.
VIDEO: Watch Madisyn Baldwin's mother give her impact statement
"When you texted Ethan 'don’t do it,' I was texting Madisyn 'I love you, please call mom,'" Beausoleil said.
She said that the lack of compassion the parents showed was "outright disgusting."
"You failed as parents," she said.
Mother of Justin Shilling, Jill Soave, also delivered an impact statement.
She said Justin was the best son any mother could ask for.
"This tragedy was completely preventable," said Soave.
She said the facts in the case have been disturbing, adding "you have failed your son and you have failed us all."
VIDEO: Watch Justin Shilling's mother give her impact statement
Justin Shilling's father, Craig Shilling, also spoke in court.
"The fact that the victims speaking here today are doing so for the second time in 6 months should speak volumes. This is not normal. Living a life like this is not normal. So how does it affect a normal guy? to be completely honest with you, it remains a rather difficult and uncomfortable question to answer," he said.
VIDEO: Watch Justin Shilling's father give her impact statement
Reina St. Juliana, Hana’s sister, and Steve St. Juliana, Hana’s father, made their impact statements as well.
“Hana’s murder has destroyed a large portion of my very soul,” said Hana’s father.
“To me that makes the maximum sentence being 15 years too short. Hana didn’t even have 15 years to live,” said Hana’s sister.
VIDEO: Watch Hana St. Juliana's family impact statements below:
Buck Myre, Tate Myre's father, was the last of the victim families to make an impact statement.
“For our family, it’s not time to celebrate, this tragedy has taken an incredible toll on our family, so our family is not going to give the Crumbley family a second of our time up here,” said Buck Myre.
He said it’s time to turn the focus to Oxford schools in relation to the tragedy.
VIDEO: Watch Tate Myre's father make an impact statement below
Jennifer Crumbley also made a statement in court after the families spoke.
"The prosecution has tried to mold us into the type of parents society wants to believe are so horrible that only a school or mass shooter could be bred from. This is a very unfair assumption to have. We were good parents, we were the average family," she said.
VIDEO: Watch Jennifer Crumbley give a statement in court
James Crumbley made a statement after Jennifer.
"My heart is really broken for everybody involved," said James Crumbley.
He added, "I have cried for you and the loss of your children more times than I can count. I know your pain and loss will never go away. Part of you will be missing forever. But please know that I am truly very sorry. I am sorry for your loss as a result of what my son did. I cannot express how much I wish that I had known what was going on with him or what was going to happen, because I absolutely would have done a lot of things differently."
VIDEO: Watch James Crumbley give a statement in court
James was found guilty in March and Jennifer was found guilty in February, and after James' verdict, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald spoke for the first time about the cases.
"This verdict does not bring back their children, but it does mark a moment of accountability and will hopefully be another step to address and end and prevent gun violence," she said.
Prosecutor McDonald added, "These parents could have prevented these shootings...with basic, reasonable, ordinary care."
Hear from Karen McDonald back in March after the trials below
A joint statement was sent out after James' verdict was read from the parents of Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Madisyn Baldwin, and Justin Shilling who have united as Families for Change:
“Nothing will bring our children back. But, there is some comfort in knowing that the parents who armed their son so he could commit such a terrible crime are being held accountable. Our hope is that this is a first step in an effort to hold all those responsible accountable and end gun violence so that we finally end the cycle of families feeling the pain that we do. We thank our Prosecutor Karen McDonald for pursuing these charges and seeking justice for our families and community."
McDonald took an unprecedented step and charged the parents in connection to the shooting. The trials have received national attention with legal experts discussing how future school shooting cases are handled by prosecutors.
Throughout the trials, the court heard testimony from police detectives, school officials, victims in the shooting and more.
The shooter pleaded guilty to the murders of his four classmates and was sentenced in December. He is appealing his life sentence.
