PONTIAC (WWJ) -- A juvenile killer who was 15 years old when he opened fire on his peers at his school in Oakland County, Michigan, will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.
Judge Kwamé Rowe handed down the maximum sentence after numerous victims delivered powerful and emotional impact statements during five hours of testimony in Oakland County Circuit Court on Friday.
"What the court notes is that he has an obsession with violence, that this act involved extensive planning, extensive research, and that he executed on every last one of the things that he planned," Rowe said.
Crumbley, now 17, was convicted of a total 24 felonies, including four counts of first-degree murder and one count of terrorism in the deadly shootings on November 30, 2021, in which four students were killed and six other students and a teacher were wounded at Oxford High School.
Rowe also ordered that Crumbley have no contact with any surviving victims, or the victims' families.
Speaking for the first time in court just before learning his fate, Crumbley said he would accept any sentence imposed on him, as he wants the victims' families to "be happy."
He went on to say that he will try to change.
"I am a really bad person," he added. "I have done terrible things that no one should ever do. I have lied, been not trustworthy, I've hurt many people. And that's what I've done; I'm not denying it. "But that's not what I plan on to be... I do plan to be better."
Cumbley was charged as an adult, which would mean an automatically no-parole sentence. But because he is minor, the U.S. Supreme Court dictates that a Miller hearing must first be held to determine if he can be rehabilitated.
In making a case for leniency, the teen's defense attorney, Amy Hopp, asserted that Crumbley suffers from mental illness, and sought help from his parents that he did not receive.
Hopp asked the judge to sentence Crumbley to some number of years in prison, with a chance for eventual release, arguing that her client indeed deserves an opportunity for rehabilitation.
“That’s not to say he doesn’t have a ways to go, because he does," Hopp said. "But that’s to say he’s demonstrated that he can change himself for the better. For those reasons, I ask Your Honor to consider a term of years, instead of a life without parole.” (The charges of first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death both carry a minimum sentence of 25 to 40 years).
Also speaking on behalf of the shooter on Friday was the teen's lawyer-guardian ad litem, Deborah McKelvy.
She asked that Judge Rowe remember that Crumbley is human being.
“His life is salvageable,” McKelvy insisted. “His life is rehabilitatable."
In explaining his decision to allow life without parole for Crumbley, Rowe said the murders were methodical, intentional, and thoughtfully planned out.
Rowe said that while the court acknowledges that the teenager may have mental illness, that was not enough of a mitigating factor.
"As the court stated in its written opinion and order regarding the Miller hearing, the defendant's alleged mental illness did not interfere with his ability to extensively plan for months his actions, nor did it interfere with his ability to execute those plans," Rowe said.
The judge also noted: "He could have change his mind" at any point before or during the shootings, yet he went ahead with his deadly rampage.
"He continued to walk through the school, picking and choosing who was going to die," Rowe said.
Speaking prior to the judge's ruling, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald also argued that Crumbley had plenty of time to abort.
“There were numerous decision points where he had an opportunity to choose another path,” McDonald said.
“Today was about victims. Today we learned their names, their faces, and we heard their voices. It’s been two years. Two years," she continued. "The statements made here today are just a small portion of the victims and their statements are only brief, but they reflect hundreds and hundreds of others. I’m not sure if the court is aware, but there were a lot more victims who initially intended to voice their oral statements and as today approached, and even today, decided that wasn’t something they could do, which is further evidence of the trauma.
“There were common themes from these students. They don’t trust anyone anymore. They don’t trust any place anymore. They don’t think they’re safe. Some can’t sleep; some have to sleep in their parents’ room. There’s a deep, deep loss — loss of safety, loss of loved ones. But most importantly, what I heard, was they lost themselves, and they’re working very hard to find who they were, with the acknowledgement that they will never be the same," McDonald said.
Separately from their son, James and Jennifer Crumbley face trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter.
The Crumbleys are the first parents of a mass murderer to be charged McDonald claimed that the parents bought the gun Ethan Crumbley used to kill his classmates, and failed to get him mental health help when he needed it.
When he spoke on Friday, the shooter seemed to try to defend his parents, as well as school officials, stating: "They did not know and I did not tell them what I planned to do, so they are not at fault for what I've done."
Following the sentencing, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said he has ordered his team to transfer Ethan Crumbly "as soon as possible" to the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections, where he will spend the rest of his life.
"I hope the families of Tate, Hana, Madisyn and Justin, and the other victims of this defendant can now take one more step forward in processing this unthinkable tragedy," the sheriff said.
According to CNN, Ethan Crumbley is the first minor to receive an original sentence of life without the possibility of parole since the 2012 US Supreme Court ruling stating that sentencing a child to life without parole is excessive for all but the rare offender.