PONTIAC (AP) – A judge sentenced a Michigan teenager to life in prison on Friday for killing four students and terrorising others at Oxford High School, United States (US) after listening to hours of gripping anguish from parents and wounded survivors.
Judge Kwame Rowe rejected pleas from defence lawyers for a shorter sentence and ensured that Ethan Crumbley, 17, will not get an opportunity for parole.
Moments before learning his fate, the teen apologised and appeared to agree with his victims that the stiffest punishment was appropriate.
“Any sentence that they ask for, I ask that you do impose it on me,” the shooter said. “I want them to be happy, and I want them to feel secure and safe. I do not want them to worry another day. I really am sorry for what I’ve done. … But I can try my best in the future to help other people, and that is what I will do.”
Life sentences for teenagers are rare in Michigan since the US Supreme Court and the state’s highest court said the acts of minors must be viewed differently than the crimes of adults.
But Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said a no-parole order fit the Oxford case.
“It’s not a moment to celebrate,” McDonald said outside court. “It’s tragic. And the voices today, I think, profoundly show that.”
Indeed, Rowe’s decision followed deeply emotional remarks by families of the deceased and survivors who said the tragedy had irreparably turned their lives upside down.
Crumbley, who was 15 when he committed the shooting, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and terrorism. He brought a gun to school, but his backpack was never checked, even after his parents were summoned that same day about their son’s drawings, which included a gun and words: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
The judge said the shooting was planned well in advance, and he noted that the shooter had plenty of time to stop as he walked through school. Rowe was especially troubled by how victim Hana St Juliana was repeatedly shot and that another, Justin Shilling, was shot at point-blank range in a bathroom while another student was forced to watch. He described it as “execution” and “torture”.
“The court cannot ignore the trauma caused to Michigan and the Oxford community,” the judge said.
