Parents of teen charged in school shooting to stand trial

A judge on Thursday ordered the parents of a 15-year-old boy charged with killing four students at his Michigan high school to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges.

Rochester Hills District Court Judge Julie Nicholson said following the preliminary examination for Jennifer and James Crumbley that she found enough evidence to send their case to circuit court.

They are charged with involuntary manslaughter and accused of making the gun used in the shooting available to the teen. The couple is also accused of failing to intervene when he showed signs of mental distress at home and at school.

Ethan Crumbley is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, terrorism and gun charges in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit.

Six other students and a teacher were wounded.

The gun used in the shooting was given to Ethan Crumbley as an early Christmas present, prosecutors have said.

“The court finds that the deaths of the four victims could have been avoided if James and Jennifer Crumbley exercised ordinary care and diligence in the care of their son,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson said prosecutors showed Ethan Crumbley presented a danger to the community and “that danger was apparent to an ordinary mind.” Testimony showed that Ethan Crumbley was a “troubled young man” and his parents knew it, she said.

“But they purchased a gun which he believed was his,” Nicholson added.

The Crumbleys’ attorneys insisted the couple didn’t know their son might plan an attack and didn’t make the gun easy to find in their home, but Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Thursday that Ethan Crumbley reached out to his parents for help.

And while no help was forthcoming, the coming trouble was foreseeable, she said.

“You’re allowed to be a terrible parent,” McDonald said. “if that’s all this was, we wouldn’t be here.”