An American teenager was sentenced on Friday, December 8, to life in prison for killing four students in his high school in November 2021, in the state of Michigan, in the north of the country. He also injured six students and a teacher.
Aged 15 at the time of the crime, Ethan Crumbley was tried as an adult and sentenced without the possibility of early release by an Oakland County court. The teenager, now 17, in an orange prison jumpsuit and dark glasses, told the jury before the verdict that he was “a really bad person”, and apologized to victims and families for doing “terrible things.”
“Any punishment requested, I ask you to impose it on me,” he said. “I want them to be happy and I want them to feel safe. I don’t want them to worry another day. I’m really sorry for what I did. …But I can do my best in the future to help others, and that’s what I will do. »
He pleaded guilty in October 2022 to bringing the Sig Sauer 9mm pistol given to him by his parents as an early Christmas present to his high school in Oxford with 50 bullets in his backpack and shooting the students, killing two girls and two boys aged 14-17.
Parents charged with manslaughter
His defense urged the judge to give him a chance to turn his life around and become eligible for parole. “There were days when I spent three hours in a cell talking to him, without realizing it,” said a court-appointed guardian. His life is salvageable. » His lawyer said the teen has improved with medication and mental health care: He is remorseful. He was able to push away dark voices and thoughts.” In vain.
Rarely, his parents, accused of negligence and of having ignored the warning signs of his actions, were charged with manslaughter and are incarcerated, awaiting their trial. Despite being summoned by the teachers, who had notably informed them of their son’s searches for ammunition on the internet, they did not react. And a few hours before the tragedy, his mother had not wanted to take her son with her when a teacher had discovered the drawing of a gun on an exercise sheet, and disturbing inscriptions such as “Thoughts are on my mind.” obsess. Help me. ”, or “Blood everywhere. »