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Court refuses Oxford school shooter appeal

Students, parents and community members marched in Oxford on Saturday, many in orange Oxford strong T-shirts or blue ones that said March For Our Lives. Organizers say nearly six hundred people showed up to the demonstration on June 11, 2022.
April Van Buren
/
Michigan Radio
Students, parents and community members marched in Oxford on Saturday, many in orange Oxford strong T-shirts or blue ones that said March For Our Lives. Organizers say nearly six hundred people showed up to the demonstration on June 11, 2022.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has refused to consider a request by the Oxford High School shooter to withdraw his guilty pleas and challenge his life-without-parole sentence.

The appeals court panel rejected the requests in an order issued Tuesday that said the request to appeal was denied “for lack of merit in the grounds presented.”

Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling were killed and six other students and a teacher were injured in the 2021 shooting.

The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, was sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to 24 counts that included murder and terrorism.

When Crumbley filed his appeal in January, he was assigned a new legal team through the State Appellate Defender Office. That team argued that he had ineffective legal counsel during his appearances before the trial court. The filing also argued the life-without-parole sentence was unconstitutional and that the Oakland County Circuit Court judge failed to ensure the shooter’s rights were protected. His attorneys also argued the then-16-year-old likely suffered from the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome and mental health issues at the time he pleaded guilty.

His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to secure the gun used in the shootings and ignoring signs that he posed a threat.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987.
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