Ethan Crumbley, the suspect in the Michigan school shooting that killed four students in November 2021, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
The then 15-year-old was said to have walked into Oxford High School and later pulled a gun out of his backpack and fatally shot 16-year-old Tate Myre, 16-year-old Justin Shilling, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, and 17-year-old Madsyn Baldwin.
Michigan School Shooter Sentenced
The crime occurred after Crumbley met with school staff and his parents on the morning of that same day. On Friday, just before the sentencing, Crumbley addressed the court and said, "I am a really bad person. I have done some terrible things. I have lied and I'm not trustworthy. I hurt many people."
The defendant added that he wants his peers to "feel safe and secure" and expressed his regret for the things that he did. In October 2022, Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 counts, including four counts of first-degree murder.
During a Miller hearing that started on July 27, Oakland County prosecutors have argued to determine whether or not the now-17-year-old suspect can be sentenced to life in prison without parole. This is a consequence that is typically given to adult offenders, as per Fox News.
Crumbley also said that he would try his best in the future to help other people, noting that it was the only thing left that he could do. The defendant asked the judge, Kwame Rowe, to impose the sentence that was asked by his victims.
In a notebook that was presented as evidence during a hearing on July 27, the shooter wrote that he was "going to spend the rest of my life in prison rotting like a tomato." In September, Rowe agreed that Crumbley could face a sentence for the shooting that devastated the Oxford, Michigan, community.
On Friday, the judge called the defendant's shooting "torture" and an "execution." It marked the first criminal case in the United States when a defendant has been charged with and convicted of terrorism resulting from a mass shooting.
Fatally Shooting Four Students
Crumbley's sentencing came after the court heard emotional testimony from witnesses earlier in the day. The father of one of the victims said that they were all miserable. Buck Myre said that his family has a permanent hole that can never be fixed, according to the New York Post.
Baldwin's mother, on the other hand, recalled seeing her daughter's lifeless body at the medical examiner's office following the shooting. She said that when she looked through the glass, her scream could have shattered it.
The mother of Shilling told the shooter, who was sitting with his head down in court, that he executed someone who could have been a friend when he needed one most. Jill Soave noted that if Crumbley was lonely, miserable, and lost, her son would have been a friend if he asked.
The judge in the case noted that Crumbley shot Shilling at point-blank range after being told to get on his knees. On the other hand, the defendant shot St. Juliana a second time after she was on the ground, and as the suspect put it, "to finish the job by shooting her again," said CNN.
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