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Oxford High School shooter appeals life sentence; attorney argues new evidence doesn’t support it
(CBS DETROIT) — A teen gunman who pleaded guilty in a 2021 deadly shooting at Michigan’s Oxford High School has filed an appeal of his life sentence, arguing that new evidence questions whether he understood his guilty plea.
In a statement Friday, the Michigan Appellate Defender Office, which is representing 18-year-old Ethan Crumbley, said a motion was filed requesting the trial court review new evidence and grant a resentencing, arguing that the sentence “for a child is unconscionable.”
Crumbley pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including murder and terrorism, in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at his high school that killed four people and injured seven others.
In December 2023, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Records show he is housed in the Oaks Correctional Facility, an all-male facility.
“Some of that new evidence includes seven witnesses who could have discussed Ethan’s childhood struggles and his mother’s alcohol abuse during pregnancy; the potential impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder on Ethan’s life including the social and emotional maturity of a child younger than their chronological age; and an expert witness to properly present information about Ethan and his childhood rather than one who cut and pasted information from other reports and did not understand the indicia for evaluating a life without parole sentence for a child,” the defender’s office statement read.
The shooter’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, were each found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials earlier this year for their roles in the shooting, and were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison.
During their trials, prosecutors argued that the shooting was preventable, and that James and Jennifer Crumbley ignored their son’s mental health needs and bought him the gun that was used in the shooting.
The Crumbleys have since obtained appellate attorneys in their cases, claiming that they were wrongly convicted.
Attorneys say new evidence does not support life sentence
The defender office argues that new evidence does not support the life without parole sentencing and is requesting the shooter is given a “constitutional sentence that is appropriate for a 15-year-old child.”
The shooter, who turned 18 earlier this year, was 15 at the time of the shooting.
“Due process requires that every person who pleads must understand what they are doing, this is even more true when the person pleading is a child,” read a statement from the defender office.
Shooter asked for parents’ pre-sentence reports to help with his appeal. They said no.
In May, a judge denied the shooter’s request to his parents’ that their pre-sentence reports be used in his appeal.
The shooter asked a state court for the reports that were used in his parents’ trials, arguing that his family and home environment are relevant to his appeal.
The sentencing court was required to consider his family background, including his home environment, because he was a minor at the time of the shooting. In response, prosecutors did not take a position on the matter, and noted the parents’ pre-sentence reports were not created until months after the shooter was sentenced.
An attorney for Jennifer Crumbley wrote in a court filing that the documents are “privileged and confidential” and she had “not waived her statutory privilege allowing the disclosure of her pre-sentence report.”
James Crumbley’s attorney wrote that the shooter is “able-bodied” and “capable of advising his counsel about his childhood, his parents and his home environment. Counsel has failed to explain to this Honorable Court why they cannot learn this evidence from him directly.”
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.