Manslaughter trial for Michigan school shooter’s mother begins - with a Taylor Swift quote

The trial of the mother of convicted Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley is underway, a first-of-its-kind case in which a parent has been charged and is being tried for a mass school shooting.

Ethan Crumbley opened fire at Oxford High School when he was 15 years old, killing four of his classmates and wounding seven others. In December, he was sentenced to life-without-parole after pleading guilty to the 24 counts against him, including first-degree murder.

His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and are being tried separately. They are the first parents in America to be charged for their alleged role in a mass school shooting; if convicted, they could each face up to 15 years in prison.

James Crumbley’s trial will begin in March while Jennifer Crumbley’s trial is now underway.

Both sides are painting very different pictures of the shooter’s mother.

The prosecution argued that she was well aware of her son’s “deteriorating mental health” and despite this, she and her husband bought him a gun and she brought him to a gun range.

The prosecutor began his opening statements: “They weren’t in a car crash. They weren’t sick. They were murdered in an act of terror committed by Jennifer Crumbley’s 15-year-old son.”

“Jennifer Crumbley didn’t pull the trigger that day. But she’s responsible for their deaths,” he added.

Ethan Crumbley was in a “downward spiral” when the gun was purchased, and his mom knew that, the prosecutor said. Still, “this gun was gifted,” he added.

“They didn’t do any number of tragically small and easy things that would have prevented all this from happening,” the attorney said of the parents, calling the tragedy “senseless.”

He also accused Ms Crumbley of