The parents of the Oxford, Michigan, High School shooter are set to face an unprecedented trial after the state Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal, allowing the charges against them to stand.
The parents of the killer, who murdered four Oxford students on November 30, 2021, are the first parents in the U.S. charged with crimes related to a mass school shooting carried out by their child — whose name will not be used in accordance with company policy about not giving notoriety to mass murderers. Prosecutors charged the parents with involuntary manslaughter for buying their son a gun and for failing to notify the school of the weapon when they were called in to talk about his troubling behavior, The Detroit Free Press reported.
The couple have been fighting to have their charges dismissed for nearly two years and appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court, but after seven months, the state’s highest court returned a one-paragraph order denying the appeal, writing that it was “not persuaded that the question should be reviewed by this court.”
Prosecutors have argued that the parents were irresponsible, ignored signs of mental illness in their son, and bought him a firearm that they did not store safely. The parents have maintained that the firearm was stored properly.
According to the prosecution, the parents also did not disclose the purchase of the gun when school counselors called them in to discuss their son’s disturbing behavior — after he drew a bleeding person next to a gun on his math worksheet.
After the meeting, they promised they would get their son help — but just hours later, the student opened fire on his classmates and teachers, killing four and injuring seven others. The mother of the then-15-year-old shooter texted her son, “Don’t do it,” after the shooting had already started.
The mass shooter’s parents could still get out of a criminal trial if they come to an agreement with the prosecution on a plea deal. The couple, who have been in jail for almost two years, face up to 15 years in prison if they are convicted on the manslaughter charge. Last week, a judge ruled that their son is eligible for life without parole at his sentencing in December.
The parents’ defense argued that the charges set a dangerous and overreaching precedent.
“Of course, the desire to hold someone accountable for the tragedy that occurred at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021 is certainly understandable, but ‘the temptation to stretch the law to fit the evil is an ancient one, and it must be resisted,’” defense attorney Shannon Smith said.
In her filing to the Michigan Supreme Court, the father’s attorney, Mariell Lehman, argued against the manslaughter charges, writing that it’s impossible to “predict the unimaginable.”
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“Certainly, after every school shooting, the media and those affected are quick to point to so-called ‘red flags’ that were missed by those in the shooter’s life,” said Lehman. “But the truth of the matter is, one cannot predict the unimaginable.”