PONTIAC, Mich. (WWJ) -- An Oakland County courtroom brimmed with grief, tears, anger and heartbreak as, two years since the mass shooting at Oxford High School, the teenager who pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism faced his sentencing.
A couple of dozen people delivered victim impact statements Friday before Ethan Crumbley was sentenced by Judge Kwamé Rowe to life in prison with parole.
First to speak was Nicole Beausoleil, mother of Madisyn Baldwin, who described the unthinkable moment when she learned from police that her daughter was dead.
"As I walked into the room I felt this chill come across my body, so cold that I felt it in my bones," Beausoleil said. "...The words we heard were: 'I don't have good news on these three children. They are deceased.'
"The sheer blunt statement could destroy you to the core. I was completely paralyzed. I felt every scream that came from my body. I felt every breath I took was fading. My mind was in a state of dementia, and then my body dropped to the floor."
"...The sobs came from a deep part in me," she continued. "Tears soaked the cold floor I laid on."
Back in the car, Beausoleil said she stared out the window, looking hopelessly for her child.
"Getting back home felt like forever," she said. "I had to tell her 11-year-old sister at the time that her best friend was gone. Payton's screams will forever haunt me. And when she asked me that simple question: 'Why?' As a mom, I didn't have the answer."
As for the shooter, Beausoleil said she believes his violent actions will haunt him for the rest of his life.
"When he least expects it, the regret will consume you as you sit alone with the only voice, only voices in your head, guilt would eat away at your soul," she said, directing her words at Crumbley, but never speaking his name.
"This might not happen tomorrow next year or 10 years, but it will happen.
As you get older, you will realize the path you've chosen and it will haunt you just like the idol that you admire so much, both of you forgotten in the system.
"And when these emotions flood into your body, like you're bleeding out, no one will be there to save you. No one will forgive you.
"Your hand will no longer be held as you claim insanity; your outburst for attention will go unnoticed. No one will love you, and no one will come as I don't wish death upon you.
"I hope the thoughts consume you and they replay over and over in your head, the thoughts won't stop. I'm sure you heard that paraphrase before. I hope the screams keep you up at night and they cause real hallucinations," Beausoleil said.
Crumbley, now 17 years old, in October pleaded guilty to all 24 felony charges against him, including four counts of first-degree murder and one count of terrorism in the deadly shooting on November 30, 2021, in which four students were killed and six other students and a teacher were wounded.
Along with Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana also were fatally shot.
Justin Shilling's father, Craig Shilling, said he has PTSD, and struggles most days to even get out of bed. He spoke at length about how losing Justin has affected his family.
"Life used to flow with some sort of rhythm and balance, and the continuity within our family was evident. There were gatherings, vacations and fun-filled events; what I feel most would deem your typical family situation," he said.
"That continuity and all that came with it were lost on the day that my son was murdered. Like a severed electrical line, the flow was no longer there. Instead, we've fallen into the darkness, still in shock and total disbelief over the fact that this actually happened to us — completely blindsided.
"We've been carrying on with more questions than answers and left to deal with the failures of emotions we've never experienced before. One could venture to say that there are no words that can accurately describe the pain that we feel on a daily basis."
The grieving father did not hold back when making clear he wishes that the shooter could be put to death.
"The act of taking another human being's life is not only exasperating but extremely selfish and unjust," Shilling said.
"I believe that once an individual crosses the boundaries of basic humanism and admittingly maliciously kills another person, that individual should meet the same fate."
The law, he noted, "unfortunately" does not allow for this.
"So in lieu of execution, I feel strongly that the individual should never be allowed to walk among his peers again," Shilling said. "This is why I'm going to ask you to lock this son of a bitch up for the rest of his pathetic life.
"His blatant lack of human decency and disturbing thoughts on life in general do not in any way warrant a second chance.
"My son doesn't get a second chance and neither should he," Shilling said.
He added: "I'd really like an opportunity to physically show him how much pain he has caused me and my family. But in a civilized society governed by complex laws such as ours, this type of display is not permitted."
Speaking to the shooter, he continued: "But you can rest assured, you piece of s—. that baby bird screams would pale in comparison to the screams that you would exude if I were only able to show you. But luckily for you, they won't let me."
Surviving victim, Oxford student Kylie Ossege, shared the harrowing details of her experience.
"I realized what had just happened: I was shot, and I thought I was gonna die," she said. "As I laid on the floor, I attempted to get up, but my legs weren't moving. I repeatedly hit my legs with my hands like this, in an attempted to regain any kind of feeling, any kind of feeling...But not a single thing."
Ossege, who had fallen beside a mortally wounded St. Juliana, spoke in heartbreaking detail about her classmate's final moments. "Realizing that I wasn't alone, I keep trying to reassure her: Someone will come help us. Don't worry. Just keep breathing, just please stay with me. I said that to her a thousand times."
She continued to yell for help.
** CONTENT WARNING: This following contains graphic and disturbing details as described by a mass shooting victim **
Ossege talked about her eventual rescue and the medical care she later received, including many months of surgeries and rehabilitation. "During the ambulance ride I kept asking my paramedic: Will I still be able to ride my horses? Will I ever play basketball again?"
"...During my almost five-week stay in the rehab unit, I had to train myself to sit up unassisted," she shared. "I had to relearn how to perform basic life tasks, like eating, brushing my teeth, showering and getting dressed. I had to learn to walk again."
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 after Oakland County Prosecutor Karen 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.