The father of a 15-year-old boy who killed four students at a school in Michigan, United States, was found guilty of
involuntary manslaughter.
The trial heard that
James Crumbley, 47
, had ignored his son Ethan's mental health needs and
bought him the gun
he used in the
November 2021 attack.
He and his wife, who was convicted of the same charges, now face
a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
This case is believed
to mark the first time
that the parents of a mass shooter
have been held criminally responsible.
James Crumbley, 47 years old.
Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images via AFP
James Crumbley was prosecuted for his role in the massacre committed by his son Ethan Crumbley, 15 years old at the time of the events, at a high school in Michigan (northern United States).
James, who heard the result through headphones due to a hearing problem, slowly shook his head from side to side as the jury foreman said "guilty."
A sheriff's deputy removed a tie from his neck, chained him around his waist, and returned him to jail.
The mother awaits the reading of her sentence on April 9.
Relatives of some of the fallen students cried silently.
Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images via AFP
Family members of some of the fallen students wept silently and held hands in the second row of the courtroom.
Later, at a news conference, County Attorney Karen McDonald stood next to them and praised their “unwavering courage” through extraordinary tragedy and pain.
"This verdict
doesn't give them their children back
, but it does mark a moment of accountability and will hopefully be one more step toward addressing and ending gun violence," McDonald said.
A 9mm pistol, a Christmas gift
The woman testified during her trial that James Crumbley
bought her son Ethan a 9mm SIG Sauer pistol
as an early
Christmas gift
shortly before the attack, and that
she herself took the young man to a shooting range the next day.
Ethan Crumbley was tried as an adult and sentenced in December to life in prison.
In October 2022 he pleaded guilty to taking the gun with
50 bullets in his backpack
to his high school and shooting other students.
He killed
two girls and two boys aged between 14 and 17
and injured six other students and a teacher.
When James Crumbley heard about the shooting, he ran home from his job at DoorDash and looked for the gun.
“I think my son took the gun,” she said in
a frantic 911 call.
Investigators found an empty gun box and an empty ammunition box on the parents' bed.
A cable that could have locked the gun was still in a package
, unopened.
In the United States, pressure to punish parents is increasing given the number of gun deaths involving minors.