CNN
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James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the teenager who killed four students in the 2021 school shooting in Oxford, Michigan, are set to be sentenced to prison on Tuesday, weeks after being convicted of manslaughter.
They each face up to 15 years in prison. The two have already been imprisoned for over two years since their arrest in a Detroit warehouse days after the shooting. Though the parents were tried separately, their sentencing is taking place together in an Oakland County courtroom.
Before sentencing, parents of the slain students addressed the court and the defendants.
Nicole Beausoleil, mother of Madisyn Baldwin, remembered her daughter’s laugh, her smile, her smarts and her creativity before turning her comments to the Crumbleys.
“When you knew the gun was missing, you called the police knowing it was your son who took it. I was having family call every hospital describing what (Madisyn) looked like,” Beausoleil said, growing emotional.
“When you texted ‘Ethan don’t do it,’ I was texting Madisyn, ‘I love you please call mom.’ ”
Justin Shilling’s dad, Craig, spoke of the “pain, anger, heartache, regret, anxiety, stress” he lives with every day.
“Literally every single aspect of my life has been affected by this tragedy,” he said, wearing a black hoodie with a photo of his smiling son.
“The blood of our children is on your hands,” he told the defendants.
Justin’s mother, Jill Soave, said the tragedy was completely preventable.
“If only they had done something, your honor, anything, to shift the course of events on November 30, then our four angels would be here today,” she said.
“It is devastating and heartbreaking that it doesn’t appear that either of you cherished or even wanted your son. But I wholeheartedly wanted and cherished mine,” she added. “You have failed your son, and you have failed us all.”
In separate sentencing memos, prosecutors asked the judge to sentence each parent to 10 to 15 years in state prison, saying the parents showed a “chilling lack of remorse.” In particular, the prosecution noted James Crumbley made threats against Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald in several jail calls. “There will be retribution, believe me,” he said in one, according to the memo.
But attorneys for the parents have asked for their clients to be sentenced to less than five years in prison each. In a sentencing memo dated April 5, the defense attorney for Jennifer Crumbley asked the judge to give her client credit for the 27 months she has served behind bars and allow her to be placed under house arrest “on a tether” at the defense attorney’s home, where she can be supervised.
That way, “Mrs. Crumbley would be able to work remotely and begin to rebuild her life,” but would not be out in the community, the memo says. The memo notes Jennifer Crumbley is “hugely distraught and remorseful” about the shooting and said a sentence between 29 to 57 months would be “more proportional” than what prosecutors are asking for.
In a separate memo from April 5, James Crumbley’s defense attorney said his client has “expressed significant remorse” and sorrow for those affected by the killings, and…
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