Negligent homicide

Father of Michigan school shooter convicted

James Crumbley had to stand trial because he bought the gun with which his son subsequently shot four people.

(Bild: 2024 Getty Images)

After the mother, the father of a teenager who shot and killed four students at a school in the US state of Michigan in 2021 has now also been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. A jury announced its verdict on Thursday evening (local time) in Pontiac. A few weeks ago, the teenager's mother was also convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. The parents now each face 15 years in prison, the sentence will not be announced until later.

This was the first time in the USA that a parent of a gunman was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on the grounds of personal responsibility. The murder weapon was a gift from the parents to their then 15-year-old son, with which he committed the murders shortly afterwards.

A teacher shows the wound she sustained in the school massacre.

(Bild: AP)

Warnings from the school environment were ignored
After the crime, serious accusations were made against the teenager's parents for buying the murder weapon and giving their underage son access to it. They are also alleged to have ignored warnings from the teenager's school environment. The father's defense argued during the trial that their client had no idea what his son was planning.

Ehan's mother Jennifer Crumbley was sentenced in a separate trial in February.

(Bild: AP)

Son sentenced to life in prison without parole
The parents had been tried in separate trials. The son had pleaded guilty to all 24 charges. Last year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. He did not testify in the trials against his parents.

A first in the US justice system
The case once again brought the question of parents' responsibility for the actions of their children into focus. Although fathers and mothers have sometimes been held responsible for negligent behavior in the past, this case was the first time that parents of a minor shooter were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.