LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – In late March, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that parents of a child could go to trial for their child’s actions.
James and Jennifer Crumbley have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Their son, Ethan Crumbley, is accused of killing four Oxford High School students.
The murders would not have happened if the parents hadn’t purchased a gun for their child, or if they had taken him home from Oxford High School on the day of the shooting when staff became alarmed about his extreme drawings, the appeals court said.
But how can the parents be charged?
According to attorney Bryan Waldman with Sinas Dramis Law Firm, the Crumbleys were essentially appealing a decision of the district court judge that probable cause existed to charge the parents.
“The Crumbleys were really focused on something called ‘causation.’ They said causation is an element of involuntary manslaughter, and the judge made a mistake in ruling that there was this causation, or a causal connection between their allegedly grossly negligent conduct in the shooting that occurred at the high school,” said Waldman.
Despite the Crumbleys’ best efforts, the Court of Appeals ruled against their argument.
How was this decision reached? Bryan explains in the video player above.
