Oxford High School shooter's appeal request denied
OXFORD, Mich. (FOX 2) - An attempt by the Oxford High School shooter to appeal his sentencing was denied by the Michigan Court of Appeals this week.
The shooter, who was 15 when he killed four classmates at the Oakland County high school, is currently serving a life without parole prison sentence after pleading guilty to numerous felony charges. He wanted to withdraw that plea.
The backstory:
The case went to the Court of Appeals after a denied the request in Oakland County Circuit Court late last year.
According to documents requesting the appeal, the shooter's new attorney claimed that he had ineffective counsel. His original attorneys are accused of failing to present evidence about the shooter's background that his new lawyer believes could have changed the outcome of the case. Some facts noted included possible fetal alcohol syndrome the shooter experienced as a baby.
After the appeal was denied again, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald released a statement:
"This ruling, first and foremost, reaffirms basic truths: On November 30, 2021, the shooter murdered Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, and Justin Shilling, he wounded seven others, and he terrorized an entire community. The shooter had his day in court. A judge weighed the severity of his crimes and rendered a fair sentence.
"This tragedy was completely avoidable. As Judge Kwame Rowe said at sentencing, the shooter had multiple opportunities to make different decisions. He did not. His parents too had multiple opportunities to prevent the shooting. They did not. As a society, we must start treating gun violence as the public health crisis that it is.
"I will never stop fighting for Madisyn, Tate, Hana, Justin and the other Oxford victims."
Dig deeper:
While the shooter has continued to try to appeal his sentence, his parents have done the same.
James and Jennifer Crumbley are both in prison after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter for their role in the shooting, including buying and allowing the teen shooter to have access to the gun used. They were both sentenced to 10-15 years in prison.
In addition to trying to appeal her conviction, Jennifer also tried to have McDonald removed from the case. That request was denied.
The Source: Court documents, a press release from the Oakland County Prosecutor, and previous reporting were used to write this story.