A teenager accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school shooting last year has pleaded guilty.
Ethan Crumbley, 16, faced four counts of first-degree murder, terrorism causing death, seven counts of attempted murder and 12 counts of use of a gun. He had previously pleaded not guilty, arguing insanity, in January.
Before he pleaded guilty on Monday, his defence withdrew the insanity notice. Crumbley, then 15, opened fire at Oxford High School, where he attended, on 30 November 2021, killing four students and injuring seven others.
During the hearing he claimed that the gun he used was “not locked up”, which may have implications for the charges against his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who have been charged with involuntary manslaughter over the murders. They are accused of ignoring multiple warning signs about his disturbing behaviour and poor mental health in the lead-up to the shooting.
Families of the victims were in court on Monday when Crumbley entered his plea before Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe, the Detroit Free Press reported. Crumbley appeared in court wearing jail clothes, handcuffed and in shackles.
His guilty plea comes 11 months after he killed Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Hana St Juliana, 14, Justin Shilling, 17, and Tate Myre, 16 and injured six other students and a teacher. Crumbley admitted to committing the crimes deliberately and with premeditation.
Judge Rowe asked Crumbley on Monday: “Is it your own choice to plead guilty?”
“Yes, sir,” Crumbley answered.
Crumbley faces a minimum sentence of 25 to 45 years to life without the possibility of parole for every terrorism and first-degree murder count. His sentencing date has yet to be scheduled but it will be after 9 February 2023.
Families of the victims will have a chance to address Crumbley and the court during sentencing, Judge Rowe said.
Meanwhile, the parents of Myre and Shilling, and other students at Oxford at the time of the massacre have also sued Oxford Community Schools for negligence, claiming the district missed Crumbley’s violent tendencies months before the attack.
“Oxford Community Schools, as you all know, has done nothing but cover up and conceal this information from not just the public [and] to my clients obviously who have sustained losses unbearable for most of us to even think about,” Ven Johnson, the attorney representing the families, said in September.
On the day of the violence, James and Jennifer Crumbley, had been asked to go to the high school to talk about their son’s behaviour after a teacher found his drawing of a gun pointing at the words, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
They refused to take him home and were asked to get Crumbley counselling within 48 hours, the AP reported.
The day before the shooting, a teacher emailed the school’s Dean of Students and Assistant Principal Nicholas Ejak and another official named Pam Fine that she found Crumbley looking at bullets on his phone.
When Ms Crumbley was notified that her son was searching for ammunition online, she allegedly answered: “Lol. I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.”
Prosecutors argue that Crumbley’s parents “created an environment in which their son’s violent tendencies flourished.” The couple pleaded not guilty.
Crumbley is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, terrorism causing death, seven counts of attempted murder and 12 counts of use of a gun.
