Michigan judge denies Oxford High School shooters' request for plea withdrawal, resentencing
(CBS DETROIT) - An Oakland County Circuit Court judge has denied motions by the Oxford High School shooter to withdraw his guilty plea and grant resentencing.
On Thursday, Judge Kwame Rowe ruled that Ethan Crumbley's plea was "knowingly, voluntarily and accurately given," according to a news release from the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office. Rowe also ruled that the shooter's life sentence was "constitutional and proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the offender."
"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," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a statement.
The shooter faced 24 charges, including terrorism causing death, in connection with the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting that killed four students - Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Schilling and Madisyn Baldwin - and injured six others and a teacher. He was sentenced to life in prison on Dec. 8, 2023, after pleading guilty in October 2022.
In June 2024, the Michigan Appellate Defender Office filed a motion requesting the trial court to review new evidence and grant resentencing, arguing that the sentence "for a child is unconscionable." However, Rowe decided that the shooter's life sentence was "constitutional and proportionate to the seriousness of the offense and the offender."
The shooter's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter, becoming the first parents in the U.S. to be held responsible for a school shooting committed by their child. The Crumbleys have since received appellate attorneys. On Dec. 2, Jennifer Crumbley asked a judge to overturn her conviction in a new motion filed in Oakland County Circuit Court.
In November 2024, the teacher injured in the shooting, Molly Darnell, filed a lawsuit against the district and several former school officials, alleging that the district and its administrators had a duty to protect district employees and students from foreseeable threats, including a mass shooting.
Darnell, who provided emotional testimony during the shooter's Miller Hearing in July 2023 as well as during Jennifer and James Crumbley's trials, was shot in the left shoulder and had to use her cardigan as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
