(WWJ) — Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwamé Rowe on Thursday dealt a pair of legal blows to convicted Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley.
Rowe issued two decisions denying motions filed by the shooter’s legal team, one seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and another asking for resentencing.
In the first ruling, Rowe said the court finds that Crumbley’s plea was “knowingly, voluntarily, and accurately given and there was no defect in the plea-taking process.”
As for the ruling on the resentencing request, Rowe said the court found the sentence is “constitutional and proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the offender.”
Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 counts — including terrorism causing death, first-degree murder, attempted murder and felony firearm — in October 2022, nearly a year after the then-15-year-old opened fire at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The shooting killed four students — Madisyn Baldwin, Justin Shilling, Tate Myre and Hana St. Juliana — and wounded six students and a teacher.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald on Thursday said “these are the right decisions under the law, and they allow us to continue doing the most important things - focusing on the victims and their families, and on preventing future shootings.”
In early 2024 the shooter’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with their son’s killing spree. They were the first parents in the U.S. to be convicted for a mass shooting carried out by their child.
Oakland County prosecutors said the parents acted in a “grossly negligent way.” They asserted during the trials that Jennifer and James knew their son was struggling with his mental health, but ignored it. Rather than getting help for the teen, James Crumbley bought his son a 9mm handgun, took him to the range to learn how to use it, and failed to keep the weapon safely stored.
Earlier this month Jennifer Crumbley filed a motion asking Rowe to toss her conviction, arguing in part that the prosecution "deliberately" withheld evidence from her, her attorneys and the jury about “secret deals” they made with school witnesses who testified against her.