About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

6 U. Cent. Fla. Dep't Legal Stud. L.J. 207 (2023)
Parents Are the Problem?

handle is hein.journals/ucflaegs6 and id is 208 raw text is: 







                   PARENTS ARE THE PROBLEM?


                                 Julian Cope

Introduction

On  Monday,  October 24, 2022, fifteen-year-old Ethan Crumbley pled guilty
to twenty-four charges, including one count of terrorism and four counts of
first-degree murder.65 Less than a year had passed since he came to Oxford
Michigan  High  School with a semi-automatic pistol and 50 rounds of
ammunition  to open fire.66 He murdered four students, Madisyn Baldwin,
Tate Myre, Hana  St. Juliana, and Justin Shiling.67 Six other students and one
teacher were injured before Ethan Crumbley  surrendered to authorities.68
Where  Ethan Crumbley   will likely face a life sentence with the possibility of
parole,69 national attention has turned to his parents, James Crumbley and
Jennifer Crumbley, who  are each charged with four counts of involuntary
manslaughter.70 If found guilty, the parents could each face a maximum
sentence of sixty years in prison and a fine of up to 30,000 dollars.71

Their guilt rests on the concept of parental liability, and on the responsibility
they owed  to society and the victims to prevent their son's violent crime.
Notably, James  Crumbley  purchased the pistol for Ethan the weekend before
the school shooting, and on the day of, Ethan was caught drawing a handgun
pointed at a person with the words, the thoughts won't stop help me.72 The
school officials then held an immediate meeting with Ethan and his parents,
wherein  the officials recommended he go home  and seek counseling within


65 Kim Bellware, Marisa Iati, & Praveena Somasundaram, Suspect in Oxford school shooting
pleads guilty, including to rare terrorism count, THE WASHINGTON POST (Oct. 24, 2022),
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/24/oxford-shooter-pleads-guilty/.
66 Aya Elamroussi, The shooter 'methodically and deliberately' fired at students. A timeline
of a school shooting tragedy, CNN (Dec. 4, 2021), https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/04/us/
michigan-oxford-high-school-shooting-timeline/index.html.
67 See id.
68 See id.
69 See id.
70 Bellware, Iati, & Praveena, supra Note 1.
?1 Ray Sanchez, Prosecutors seek to introduce evidence Michigan school shooter's parents
created pathway to violence, CNN (Oct. 28, 2022),
https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/28/us/ethan-crumbley-parents-michigan-hearing/index.html.
72 Elamroussi, supra note 2.
                                    207

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most