Jennifer Crumbley verdict – live: Parents of school shooting victims react

On the morning of the shooting, school staff had grown increasingly concerned after finding Ethan’s drawing, depicting a semiautomatic handgun pointing at the words “the thoughts won’t stop help me”.

The Crumbley parents were called in to meet with school staff and their son to discuss it.

While given the choice of whether to keep Ethan in school or take him home, the parents opted for him to return to class. He shot up his school hours later.

A videotaped interview in the hours after the shooting shows investigators asking the parents about this meeting.

Mr Crumbley says their son was “doodling on a test or a practice test,” seemingly referring to the disturbing drawing, when Ms Crumbley interrupts: “I think we probably should have a lawyer.”

Mr Crumbley then says: “I think we can speak to the cops.”

Later in the interview, Ms Crumbley is seen telling police that the school counsellor “didn’t seem worried” about the drawing and that Ethan could either stay at school or his parents could take him home.

“And I really wish we took him home,” she is heard admitting.

Mr Crumbley also says at the start of the interview that he is “freaking out” and asks for some water.

He later tells police that their 15-year-old is a “great kid,” adding that he “doesn’t get in trouble at school”.

When an officer tells the parents that they will need to talk to Ethan, an emotional Ms Crumbley is heard asking: “Why?… He’s never done anything bad”.

The interview also revealed that Ethan had texted his mother — telling her that he loved her — not long before he opened fire on his classmates.

During the interview, Mr Crumbley also shares details with police about where his son had gotten hold of the gun.

He says that the weapon was hidden in a gun case in an armoire and that the bullets were “in a completely different spot underneath some jeans”.

Jennifer, 45, worked in marketing at a real estate firm and James, 47, worked for DoorDash, according to court documents.

During the meeting with Ethan and school administrators who suggested he leave school early hours before the shooting, filings suggest that Jennifer cited their jobs as reasons why he couldn’t come home.

The pair initially came under scrutiny for their strange behaviour in the aftermath of the shooting. Reports showed the couple drained their son’s bank account.

They withdrew cash, sold their horses, and bought four burner phones in the hours after finding out that their son had opened fire.

When they were arrested four days after the shooting, the couple reportedly had $6,600 in cash, credit cards, gift cards and four phones.

At the time, the Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said that “they started making plans”.

Jennifer texted someone that “she needed to sell her horses fast” and the couple “drained their son’s bank account” later that day, taking out $3,000 and leaving a mere 99 cents, Ms McDonald said.

The pair also checked into a hotel. The defence attorney told the jury on 25 January that the Crumbleys had been receiving “death threats” at their home, so they went to a hotel to seek refuge.

Fearful, the pair bought burner phones. The defence lawyer also explained to jurors that they bought two pairs of burner phones because they couldn’t access their bank accounts with their original burners, since they weren’t able to do the necessary two-factor authentication.

The Crumbleys then stayed at an artist studio, belonging to Jennifer’s friend, where they were arrested the next day, on 4 December. They were supposed to have turned themselves in on the afternoon of 3 December, but failed to do so, resulting in a manhunt.

The defence attorney told the court that the couple “weren’t hiding,” but “waiting for instructions” and they were “waiting to turn themselves in first thing Saturday morning, when arraignments take place”.

A Michigan jury has found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of manslaughter in the Oxford High School shooting, after she bought her teenage son a firearm and ignored multiple warning signs about his disturbing behaviour in the lead-up to the deadly attack.

Jurors reached the verdict on Tuesday morning after deliberating for more than 10 hours.

Crumbley, 45, had pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter in the case, one for each of the four classmates – Madiyson Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14 – murdered by her son.

Her son, Ethan Crumbley, was sentenced in December to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he shot and killed four of his classmates in the 30 November 2021 mass shooting.

The verdict handed down to the shooter’s mother is historic, as no parent has ever been charged, tried or convicted for their alleged role in a mass school shooting perpetrated by their child.

This case was unprecedented, as it marked the first time a parent went on trial for their alleged role in a mass shooting carried out by their child.

The case could provide a blueprint for how others, beyond the shooter, could be charged over a mass shooting.

Crumbley’s husband James Crumbley is being tried separately in March. He has also pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Other parents have also faced criminal charges when their child has committed a shooting.

The mother of the Virginia six-year-old who shot his first grade teacher, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to 21 months in prison in November after she pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm while being a drug user and lying on a background check about her marijuana use when she bought the gun which was later used by her son.

In November, Robert Crimo Jr, the father of the Highland Park shooter, also pleaded guilty to seven counts of misdemeanour reckless conduct after his son opened fire on a Fourth of July parade in the Illinois suburb in 2022. His son was 21 at the time of the shooting.

“Today, my heart remains with the families of four of Oxford’s brightest lights – Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling – along with the extended Oxford community.”

“While their pain and grief can never be diminished, the guilty verdict is a strong signal and an important step toward accountability. Let us all embrace the community with love and the continued support they need on their path toward healing. I appreciate the hard work and talented efforts of Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald and her team in this important case.”

Central to the case was the meeting between the Crumbley parents and school officials that took place mere hours before the shooting.

On the morning of 30 November 2021, a teacher had noticed a disturbing drawing by Ethan, prompting school administrators to call in his parents for a meeting and consult them about whether he should stay in school or be taken home.

The parents decided he should stay in school, where he killed four of his classmates hours later.

The defence underscored that school staff gave Crumbley a choice and didn’t force her to take her son home.

However, a videotaped interview with police in the aftermath of the attack was played in court, showing Crumbley admitting: “I really wish we took him home.”

In an attempt to cut into the defence’s description of Crumbley being a “hypervigilant” mom, the prosecution tried to draw attention to how much time and money the mother dedicated to her horses and to other distractions — including her affair with her former lover.

Brian Meloche, Crumbley’s long-time friend, testified that he and Crumbley had a six-month extramarital affair starting in the spring of 2021. Around this same time, Ethan’s mental health started to decline, the prosecution claimed. His grandmother passed away in April 2021 and his mother told a friend that he was “acting depressed”.

Beyond this affair, Crumbley’s digital footprint also showed that she was using the adultery website AdultFriendFinder.

Despite telling school staff that Ethan should remain in school since both she and her husband had to return to work that day, Mr Meloche testified that Crumbley had text him saying she was free to meet up with him.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, said in a statement on Tuesday:

“We saw the breaking news just not too long ago….without speaking specifically, on today’s verdict, we want to be really careful here. I can say that the President remains committed to stop tragedies like these happening in the first place. … Students who carry carry out K-12 school shootings are using firearms they obtain from home from a friend or family member. We know that to be true.

T”he importance of safe firearm storage cannot be overstated. And the administration will continue to use every tool at our disposal to implement these and other common sense gun safety measures to protect our children, our schools and our communities. Look, when it comes to when it comes to gun violence, the president has said this is an epidemic. It is the number one killer of our kids.

“We’ve done more than two dozen executive actions … He signed … bipartisan legislation to deal with gun violence, legislation that hasn’t passed in 30 years. So he takes this very seriously. We do not want to continue to see and our kids being the number one killer, it shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be.”