Michigan Board of Education calls for independent review of Oxford High School shooting

By DeJanay Booth-Singleton

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WWJ) — Michigan’s Board of Education is calling on the state legislature to fund an independent review of the deadly Oxford High School shooting.

Officials said the push was in response to requests from the parents of the four students who were killed in the 2021 shooting: Madisyn Baldwin, Justin Shilling, Tate Myre and Hana St. Juliana. It also mentions the 2023 shooting at Michigan State University that killed three students.

It also calls for lawmakers to make funding recurring for children’s mental health and school safety and suicide and threat assessments, including training, part of every school’s emergency operation plan.

“Parents of Oxford students who died in this terrible tragedy have made it clear they want an independent state review of the shooting and events before and after,” said State Board of Education President Dr. Pamela Pugh in a statement. “I’m very grateful and thankful we were able to hear from the parents of the victims of Oxford. We owe it to the parents to do what we can to have the mass shooting thoroughly reviewed so that schools can learn from what happened and Oxford parents can get more answers.”

The Oxford High School shooter, who was 15 and a student at the time, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in December 2023 after pleading guilty. However, he has since appealed his sentence, arguing that new evidence questions whether he understood his guilty plea.

His 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.

An independent review by Guidepost Solutions last year found that the shooter was not identified as a threat by the school, and the school bore responsibility and failed to provide a safe environment for students.

The firm was hired by the school board after parents called for action against school staff.

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