By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
PONTIAC, Mich. – For more than two years the Oxford community has lain under the pall of the school shooting on Nov. 30, 2021 that left four students dead, six other students and a teacher wounded and a community racked with grief.
On Friday the family, friends, classmates and Oxford community learned that convicted mass murderer Ethan Crumbley would receive no reprieve and would spend the rest of his life in jail.
Michigan Judge Kwame Rowe sentenced school shooter Crumbley, 17, to multiple life sentences without parole on Friday. Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting at Oxford High School, previously pleaded guilty to all charges.
On Friday, Rowe called Crumbley’s shooting “torture” and an “execution.”
“I am a really bad person. I have done some terrible things. I have lied and I’m not trustworthy. I hurt many people,” Crumbley said during the sentencing hearing.
Before issuing his sentence, Rowe told families of the victims who appeared in court that while the sentence could not bring back their loved ones, he hoped it would help them find some closure.
“Whatever sentence the court imposes will not bring your loved ones back or cure the mental anguish or the lifelong physical scars that some of you have, but I hope the sentence does allow you to close one chapter in your life,” Rowe said.
Family and friends of the four students – 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Justin Shilling, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin – killed in the shooting gave emotional pleas to the judge for the maximum penalty and shared their trauma.
Madisyn Baldwin’s mother, Nicole Beausoleil, told the judge about the moment she had to identify her daughter’s body. “I looked through the glass, my scream should’ve shattered it,” she said.
Madeline Johnson, Madisyn’s best friend, wore a shirt to the sentencing that read “Love For Madisyn Baldwin” followed by four hearts. Johnson spoke of waiting in class and saving Madisyn a seat.
“And I waited and waited and I finally realized that she was never coming,” Johnson said through tears.
Student Keegan Gregory was trapped in the bathroom with Justin Schilling.
“I felt then, and still feel now, the guilt for surviving. I know that if it wasn’t Justin’s life taken, it could have been mine,” Gregory said.
Craig Shilling, father of Justin Shilling, told Crumbley that his son, an organ donor, saved five lives after he was fatally shot.
Reina St. Juliana, Hana’s older sister, also addressed the court about the loss of her sister. “Instead of speaking at her wedding I spoke at her funeral. Instead of fishtailing her hair for a game, I curled her hair in a casket,” she said.
Tate’s father, Buck, told Rowe that “Our family has been navigating our way through complete hell” and recalled how his wife put her head in her hands when she learned the news and said, “Not my baby boy.”
Madisyn Baldwin’s mother, Nicole Beausoleil, told Crumbley directly “As you get older, you will realize the path you’ve chosen, and it will haunt you,” she said before the courtroom, and that his “suffering will come” when he “least expects it.”
Survivors described themselves as racked with guilt over those who died. In total, 29 people gave victim statements at the hearing, including parents of victims and students and staff at the school.
Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter after allegedly purchasing a firearm for their son.
Their cases have since been separated. The parents appealed their charges, but it was denied. They will face trial starting Jan. 23.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard released a statement about the life sentence handed down.
“I applaud Judge Rowe for doing the courageous thing – the appropriate thing – on behalf of the victims of these horrible crimes. By his actions on Nov. 30, 2021, and his own statements, this defendant deliberately carried out his cold-hearted, evil, and brutal plan and was excited about killing his fellow students. He said he was prepared to spend the rest of his life in prison. It is appropriate that the system granted his wish. I hope the families of Tate, Hana, Madisyn and Justin, and the other victims of this defendant can now take one more step forward in processing this unthinkable tragedy. I have ordered my team to transfer him as soon as possible to the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections where he will spend the rest of his life,” Bouchard said.