James and Jennifer Crumbley face four counts of involuntary manslaughter each after their son, Ethan, killed four students at Oxford High School in 2021.

Ethan Crumbley was 15 when he opened fire at his suburban Detroit high school in November 2021, armed with a semi-automatic handgun that his parents helped purchase as an early Christmas present.

The rampage left four students dead and several others injured, shattering the close-knit community of Oxford, Michigan, and resulting last month in a life sentence without parole for Crumbley, who was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to two dozen counts, including for murder and terrorism.

Now, scrutiny falls on the teenager’s parents.

In a rare attempt to hold the parents of a school shooter criminally responsible, James Crumbley, 47, and his wife, Jennifer, 45, are each facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter and will be tried separately, with a trial set to open with jury selection in Oakland County on Tuesday.

  • @EdibleFriend
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    10810 months ago

    2 fucking months. They got him a gun and he lasted all of 2 months before going on a killing spree. There is zero chance in hell he went from normal and well adjusted to mass shooter in those 2 months. There had to have been lots of signs of mental health issues and they still GAVE HIM A FUCKING GUN

    • @lennybird
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      10 months ago

      There were indeed signs. The school intervened and called the parents because he was having these homicidal ideations. The useless deadbeat parents’ genius idea? Get him a gun to vent his anger. They proceed to go back to basically ignoring him and going to bars while leaving him home alone all day routinely. All the while the bullying he was subject to at school continued.

      • @EdibleFriend
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        -610 months ago

        I say just toss em in a room with the parents of the other kids and let nature take its course.

          • @lennybird
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            610 months ago

            Thanks for demonstrating a level of maturity and foresight that seems to otherwise be lacking here.

          • @EdibleFriend
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            -610 months ago

            It is in America, which is why we still have the death penalty. I just proposed a different mode of execution.

            • gregorum
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              1110 months ago

              Not everywhere. Some of us still have our senses.

              • @EdibleFriend
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                110 months ago

                Still more then half the country which shows that, yep. America is a country where will kill as vengeance for crimes if they are bad enough.

                • @lennybird
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                  310 months ago

                  And you agree with this?

                  Forget matters of innocent lives being put to death routinely; forget the fact that it does nothing in the way of deterrence or resolving the root problem.

                  • @EdibleFriend
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                    10 months ago

                    yes and no. I fully believe some people should just be killed for what they have done. But…I don’t trust our government to get it right.

                    Like these parents? That knew their kid had serious mental issues and handed him a gun anyways which lead to him killing innocent kids? yeah. Fucking kill em. They are beyond saving and we will be better off without them.

        • billwashere
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          110 months ago

          Not to let them hurt each other but to scream and berate the shooters parents for being so mind numbingly stupid… yes that would be cathartic.

    • SeaJ
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      4310 months ago

      Yes. He specifically told them he was not okay mentally (admitted to hearing voices and having violent thoughts). They did nothing to get him help and instead bought him a gun.

      • Aviandelight
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        2210 months ago

        If that is true then it makes me wonder if they were just hoping he’d kill himself. That’s really dark and I’d love to think they were just negligent and not malicious.

        • Echo Dot
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          210 months ago

          Just on the practicalities of it alone shooting yourself with a pistol is easier.

    • @Fondots
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      1810 months ago

      There is zero chance in hell he went from normal and well adjusted to mass shooter in those 2 months.

      Give that there were some other warning signs in this case I agree with you, but don’t underestimate how quickly someone can go off the deep end

      I’ve had a couple friends who’ve had some mental health issues that came on very suddenly with no warning. They didn’t go out and hurt anyone, but from where they ended up it probably wasn’t that big of a leap if their friends and family weren’t on top of things trying to reel them in and get them help. I could definitely imagine them becoming a danger to themselves or others if they were left to their own devices for 2 months when it went down.