A mother who took her son to a shooting range just days before he shot dead four students at his US school, is to go on trial, charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Jennifer Crumbley and her husband, James Crumbley are the first parents to be charged in a mass US school shooting.
They gave their son, Ethan Crumbley, access to a gun, ignored his mental health needs and declined to take him home when shown his violent drawings at school on the day of the 30 November 2021 attack, according to prosecutors.
They face four charges of involuntary manslaughter each, with Ms Crumbley’s trial expected to start this week, in Oakland County court, near Detroit, while Mr Crumbley will be tried separately in March.
It’s not disputed that James Crumbley, 47, bought a gun with Ethan at his side four days before the shooting, which Ethan, then aged 15, called “my new beauty”.
The semi-automatic handgun was a Christmas present.
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, took him to a shooting range and described the outing on Instagram as a “mom and son day”.
A day before the shooting, Oxford High School in Michigan told her that Ethan was looking at ammunition on his phone.
She forgave him, texting, “I’m not mad. You have to learn not to get caught.”
In December last year, Ethan Crumbley was jailed for life without parole after pleading guilty to murder, terrorism and other charges.
At his sentencing, he told a judge that he was a “really bad person” who could not stop himself.
