James Crumbley: Deliberations begin for father of Michigan school gunman

A US jury has begun deliberating the involuntary manslaughter case against the father of a school gunman who killed four students in November 2021.

James Crumbley, 47, is accused of being negligent for ignoring his 15-year-old son's mental health needs and buying him the handgun he used in the attack.

His lawyers on Wednesday argued that he "didn't know" about his son's plans.

Jennifer Crumbley, his wife, is due to be sentenced next month after facing the same charges in a separate trial.

In her closing arguments to the jury of six men and six women, prosecutor Karen McDonald called the attack at the Oxford High School in Michigan "preventable and foreseeable".

She added that Mr Crumbley's alleged actions are "rare and egregious", arguing that he did not take even the slightest measures to ensure that his son was not a threat after giving him a semi-automatic pistol as a gift.

"James Crumbley is not on trial for what his son did. James Crumbley is on trial for what he did and what he didn't do," she said.

His defence lawyer, Mariell Lehman, argued that "James had no idea that his son was having a hard time".

"He did not know he had to protect others from his son," she said, according to The Detroit News. "He had no idea what his son was planning to do."

The defence's closing argument came in the trial's fifth day, and after they called Mr Crumbley's sister to testify.

Karen Crumbley said she had not noticed any warning signs in her nephew during visits about six months before the shooting.

In her closing arguments, Mrs McDonald argued that prosecutors do not need to prove that he had advance knowledge of the shooting.

She said that if he did know about it ahead of time, he would be facing murder charges rather than the four counts of involuntary manslaughter that he is currently facing.

Ms Lehman argued that the prosecution's case is based on "assumptions and hindsight".

Unlike his wife - who faces up to 60 years in prison - Mr Crumbley declined to testify during his trial.

The case against the Crumbleys marks the first time parents have been charged with manslaughter over their child's role in a shooting in the US.

• When parents get the blame for a child's mass shooting

Their son, Ethan, killed fellow students Tate Myre, 16; Hana St Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17. He is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.