After two full days of questioning, the jury has been selected in the trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the first parent in America to be tried in a mass school shooting.
A jury of 10 women and seven men will be seated to determine whether Jennifer Crumbley is responsible for the deaths of four students who were killed in 2021 by her son Ethan at Oxford High School in Michigan.
Jennifer and her husband James, whose trial is scheduled for March, are both charged with involuntary manslaughter for buying their son the gun he used to kill four classmates, and injure six other students and one teacher. They each face 15 years in prison.
Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, though his new attorneys have appealed the sentence.
All 17 jurors selected will sit in on the trial — though five alternates will be dismissed before the jury goes into deliberations. The alternates will not be known until that happens, which is designed to make sure all jurors pay attention to the case.
The jurors include:
- A doctor who owns multiple guns and says he is “a strong” supporter of the Second Amendment, and has lost two loved ones to suicide by guns.
- A female hunter with kids who stores her guns at her dad’s house for safety.
- A veterinarian who grew up with hunters, has children and a “very-anti-gun” husband who “just doesn’t want them in our house.” Regarding the Oxford shooting, she said: “When I think about this case, I feel rage.”
- A woman with two grown children who said: “I gave up watching all news in all forms years ago … I’m pretty misinformed.” There are no guns in her house, though she said her father was a hunter. “I know my dad’s guns were always locked … It was not for the children”
- A woman who grew up in the U.P. and used to hunt, but not anymore.
- A woman who is married and owns guns, which she said are “locked up.” She has two grown children and recalled taking gun safety classes as a family when the children were in elementary school. She is married and works for a bank.
- A man who works in logistics, owns several guns and recalled tagging along with his dad to shooting ranges when he was 10. His girlfriend is a personal trainer. His best friend is a police officer at a jail.
- A powertrain engineer who went to the shooting range with his girlfriend over the last year, but does not own a gun. He grew up in Nebraska and moved to Michigan in 2014.
- A 26-year-old hair stylist.
- A woman who does billing for college students and has a baby.
Opening statements will begin Thursday morning.
