(RepublicanReport.org) – The mother of a 15-year-old high school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The assailant left four students dead and seven others injured when he opened fire at Oxford High School in November 2021. The jury found that the mother had been negligent in dealing with her son’s mental health issues and had done nothing to restrict his access to the gun she and her husband had purchased for him. The boy’s father, who is being tried separately, faces similar charges.
Jennifer Crumbley became the first parent ever to be held accountable for a child gunning down their classmates, according to ABC News, which states that the verdict came in after 11 hours of deliberation. The jury found the convicted teen’s mother guilty of four counts of manslaughter — one count for each person her son murdered.
Her son, Ethan Crumbley, killed 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana; 16-year-old Tate Myre; and 17-year-olds Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling. Prosecutors alleged that school officials had contacted both of the teen’s parents on the day of the shooting over a violent picture he had drawn in class. There was also concern over the boy being caught doing online searches for bullets and watching videos of shootings while on school grounds. The parents both insisted they were too busy with work to take him home and seek immediate mental health counseling, claiming that any attempts to send him off would leave him alone in a potentially suicidal state.
Both parents purchased the gun he used during the shooting, according to prosecutors, and they had also taken him to a shooting range prior to the deadly rampage. Additionally, neither took any measures to secure the weapon despite the numerous warning signs that their son was unstable.
Jennifer Crumbley’s sentencing will take place on April 9. The trial for James Crumbley, the boy’s father, will begin in March.
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