I’m angrier than eurodance group 2 Unlimited with no invitations to perform in the United States over this news story, folks. You see, a young Michigan man by the name of Ethan Crumbley, then sixteen, shot up Oxford High School in November of 2021. He went to prison, but he wasn’t the only one. His parents were sentenced to 10-15 years for not stopping their son.
“As the jury found, defendant’s gross negligence was a cause of this
damage; she knew of the danger to another, it was reasonably foreseeable
her son would shoot someone, but she failed to exercise even the
smallest measure of ordinary care,” the prosecutors wrote. His old man and lady? Involuntary manslaughter charges for them.
The father, James, apologized to the victims’ families in court, but he shouldn’t have done so. Why? He has nothing to regret. It was his son who pulled off the mass killing. There was no way his parents could have known what was about to happen. There was no way they could have stopped their child.
Ethan was fifteen years old when he did his crime. He copped to a guilty plea to over twenty-four charges, first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism.
Prosecutors allege that his parents “ignored warning signs,” as ABC News reported. They also came down hard on the parents for not installing a lock on their guns.
Ethan allegedly showed signs of suicidal intent and he drew things on a math test that were supposedly disturbing. Allegedly, the parents that they could not stay home alone with him due to work. School officials were seemingly disturbed by it all, but they didn’t do what they should have done and they allowed Ethan to stay in school.
The fact that no one from the school was held liable is astounding. Someone there needs to be behind bars right alongside Ethan, who killed four of his fellow students and injured quite a few more.
Later that afternoon, Ethan shot up the school.
Look, I’m not condoning what he did. Clearly, he did heinous things. He was handed a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole and that is as it should be. But holding his parents criminally responsible for what their son did is outrageous, unfair and disgusting. They couldn’t possibly have watched him all day and night, so sending them to prison accomplishes nothing but putting two innocent people in prison.
Numerous media outlets are calling this case “historic.” Indeed, I can’t find any news story where the parents are sent to prison because of something their child did. It’s unheard of and appalling.
Ethan got what he deserved. The only thing that would make his sentence even more just is the death penalty, but for some reason prosecutors didn’t seek that. But again, true justice would be leaving the parents alone for they did all the could do.