Ethan Crumbley sits in court, Thursday, July 27, 2023, in Pontiac, Mich. Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe is hearing evidence starting Thursday to help him decide whether Crumbley, the teen who killed four students and injured six others and a teacher in November 2021 at Oxford High School should be sentenced to prison without the chance of parole. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Michigan teenager who pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism charges for opening fire on his high school classmates will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Ethan Crumbley, 17, is eligible for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe ruled on Friday. Crumbley was 15 years old when he shot and killed four of his fellow Oxford High School Students — Tate Myre, 16 Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17 — in November 2021 with a gun he had received as a gift from his parents. A subsequent investigation revealed that he had been caught drawing violent images while in class prior to the attack.
Crumbley pleaded guilty in October 2022 to all the charges against him, 24 in total — including murder and terrorism. First-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Michigan, but Rowe could have potentially considered a shorter term because of the defendant’s age at the time.
At Friday’s hearing, however, Rowe announced that a life sentence without the possibility of parole was still on the table.
Read Related Also: Judge finds man who used samurai sword to kill his ‘sweet, innocent’ mother not guilty by reason of insanity
Crumbley’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8.
Crumbley’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are facing manslaughter charges in connection with their son’s attack on the school. Hours before the shooting, they had been called to the school after a teacher discovered their son’s disturbing drawings in a math workbook. They eventually left — without their son — after meeting with school officials and Ethan Crumbley himself.
After arrest warrants were issued for the parents, the Crumbleys appeared to have attempted to evade apprehension by the police but were eventually found hiding in a building near downtown Detroit, around 30 minutes away from Oakland.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
