'Buckle up': Experts believe school shooter Ethan Crumbley's guilty plea throws out rule book
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised
OXFORD, MICHIGAN: Suspect Ethan Crumbley, 16, is expected to enter a guilty plea during a court hearing on Monday morning, October 24. The Oxford high school shooter is accused of killing four students and leaving seven others wounded last November 2021. Experts have weighed that the juvenile's case is going to be unlike any other case they have witnessed.
“Buckle up,” said Local 4 legal analyst Neil Rockind as experts weigh in. “If a juvenile, which Ethan Crumbley clearly is, is convicted of first-degree murder, that just begins the analysis. The next question is whether or not the prosecutor elects to seek to have him sentenced to life without parole,” said Rockind as per click on Detroit. Crumbley is expected to plead guilty to over two dozen charges, including multiple counts of first-degree murder and notably terrorism, a charge no school shooter has ever faced.
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Rockind believes the teen gunman's fate could go two ways, "Life without parole, or a different sentencing structure," reports click on Detroit. He added, it depends "They’ll focus on things like, how was he in prison? How long has he been in jail? How has he been with the guards? How has he been with others? Has he been attending school? Has he improved psychologically since he’s been in jail? All those things will be factors that will be considered if the prosecutor seeks a sentence of life without parole.” Authorities have reportedly pinned some responsibility on Crumbley’s parents and charged them with involuntary manslaughter charges and this could also play a factor in Crumbley's case, according to click on Detroit.
The teen gunman, who is being charged as an adult for the Michigan high school mass shooting, will plead guilty to all 24 charges. Crumbley's parents James and Jennifer are also being held accountable for the massacre after they ignored their son’s mental health needs and allegedly gifted him a gun just days before he went on a killing spree. Crumbley is being charged with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted murder, and 12 counts related to using a gun. The high school gunman is being charged with terrorism after the state enacted anti-terrorism law following the 9/11 ordeal. According to Fox 32, Michigan's 2002 anti-terrorism law defines a terroristic act as one intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to affect the conduct of a government through intimidation or coercion. According to the outlet, a first-degree murder conviction in Michigan typically brings an automatic life prison sentence.
