Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley, 17, is sentenced to LIFE in prison without parole - after 'monster' who slaughtered four tells judge to throw away the key

Michigan high school shooter Ethan Crumbley has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after murdering four students in 2021.

The 17-year-old ran riot through Oxford High School in the state in November 2021, killing four and injuring seven.

During his sentencing hearing, Crumbley apologized and asked Judge Kwame Rowe to sentence him as his victims' families wished. They'd demanded the shooter be locked up for the rest of his life.  

Judge Rowe said Crumbley methodically walked through the school, picking and choosing who was going to die. 

Students Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17, were killed in the rampage. Six students and a teacher were also wounded. 

He was convicted of 24 felonies in connection with the school shooting, including murder and terrorism.

According to prosecutors, this case marks the first time that a defendant was charged and convicted of terrorism resulting from a mass shooting. 

In a turn of events, the 17-year-old addressed families of his victim's and those effected by his rampage just before being sentenced. 

He told the packed court room: 'What I did. My actions were because of what I chose to do. I could not stop myself, I do not diminish any ability to anyone that could have stopped me.

'They did not know and I did not tell them what I planned to do so they are not at fault for what I done. 

'I am a really bad person. I've done terrible things no one should ever do, I have lied. I've hurt many people, that's what I have done. 

'Whatever sentence it is I do plan to be better. I will change, it may not show it now but I am trying. 

'All I want is for the people I hurt to just have a final sense of culpability that justice has been served in any capacity. 

'Any sentence they ask for I ask that you do impose it on me, I want them to be happy, to feel secure. I do not want them to worry another day. I am really sorry. I cannot give it a back.'

Earlier in the day, the court had heard from families of the four students and other involved who gave emotional statements. 

Reina St. Juliana spoke of the impact the death of her sister had on her and her family.

She told the court: 'Instead of speaking at her wedding, I spoke at her funeral. Instead of fishtailing her hair for a game, I curled her hair in a casket.'

She added: 'Each day is just going through the motions because apparently we are supposed to go on. I hate it, I never asked for it, I never want to accept. 

'Loving Hana shouldn't be this painful, and life shouldn't be so paralyzing. I don't want to wake up in the morning because Hana is not here.

'There is no justice that will ever be enough, however the first step is to ensure that he never has the chance to take away another life and destroy families ever again.'

Steve St. Juliana, the father of Hana and Reina, described his daughter as a talented, athletic girl who spoke Japanese, earned straight A's and crafted homemade jewelry.

'I will never think back fondly on her high school and college graduations,' he said tearfully. 

'I will never walk her down the aisle as she begins the journey of starting her own family. I am forever denied the chance to hold her or her future children in my arms.'

Earlier, the court had heard from Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre, who spoke of how his son's death ruined his family. 

He said: 'It's been quite the journey I can tell you that, love is absent from our family because there is no joy. When you have joy it is easy to love.

'Me and my wife are trying to figure out how to save our marriage and save our family, and we didn't even do anything to each other.

'As we try to navigate these waters, we try to honor Tate. His dad is fighting, his mom is fighting and his brothers are fighting.' 

Speaking directly to Crumbley, Myre added: 'We want you to spend the rest of your life rotting in your cell, what you stole from us is not replaceable.'

Craig Shilling, whose 17-year-old son, Justin, was one of the students killed, echoed the words of Myre and angrily told Crumbley to 'rot' in prison.

'I still find myself waiting up for him to get home from work,' he said of his son. 'It's unbearable to know that he's never going to walk through that door.'

Jill Soave, the mother of Justin Shilling, told the shooter that he executed a boy who could have helped him navigate awkward teenage years.

'If you were that lonely, that miserable and lost, and you really needed a friend. Justin would have been your friend - if only you had asked,' Soave said.

Nicole Beausoleil recalled seeing the body of her daughter, Madisyn Baldwin, at the medical examiner's office, her hand with blue-painted fingernails sticking out from a covering.

'I looked though the glass. My scream should have shattered it,' Beausoleil said.

Madeline Johnson, a close friend of Baldwin, told : 'My life has been a mess for the last two years. I can barely go to malls and concerts. 

'I used to be a nicer person, I used to be fearless. The only thing that is now on my mind is those gunshots.

Speaking directly to Crumbley, she said: 'I hope it eats away at you and I hope you feel even a fraction of the loneliest that I've felt over these last few years.

'You are never going to know what it is like to be loved, that is why I win. Because of what you did you are alone, completely and totally alone for the rest of your life.'

Crumbley previously pleaded guilty to all 24 charges in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting, which included first-degree murder and terrorism.

Defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin argued that Crumbley deserves an opportunity for parole after his 'sick brain' is fixed through counseling and rehabilitation.

But after listening to testimony from experts, Rowe said in September that he had found only a 'slim' chance that Crumbley could be rehabilitated behind bars.

In a journal, the shooter wrote about his desire to watch students suffer and the likelihood that he would spend his life in prison. He made a video on the eve of the shooting, declaring what he would do the next day.

Crumbley and his parents met with school staff on the day of the shooting after a teacher noticed violent drawings. But no one checked his backpack for a gun and he was allowed to stay.

Like their son, Jennifer and James Crumbley are locked up in the county jail. They are awaiting trial on involuntary manslaughter charges, accused of making a gun accessible at home and neglecting their son's mental health.

Jennifer Crumbley has asked a court in Michigan to exclude evidence of her son's alleged abuse of baby birds from her own criminal trial. 

Fox reported that attorney Shannon Smith wrote in a motion on Monday: 'The 'bird evidence' is so extremely disgusting, sickening, and appalling that its admission would certainly inflame the passions of a jury. 

'The jury will undoubtedly judge Mrs. Crumbley for the heinous acts of her son, which she knew nothing about.'

Court filings have indicated that her son had recorded himself on video torturing and killing animals including a bird. 

Attorney Ven Johnson claims that Crumbley kept a bird's severed head in a jar and that he brought the head to school in a jar and placed it in the boy's bathroom. 

Johnson alleges in the federal filing that Oakland County School District staff ignored reports from students who saw the bird's head. 

Prosecutors say Crumbley expressed 'delight' in killing a family of baby birds and found 'joy' in hearing them squeal as they died. 

According to Fox, the motion said: 'It is clear that the shooter has mutilated baby birds on more than one occasion, texted a friend details about mutilating birds, video recorded himself doing so, and photographed vile and disgusting video of his actions.

'The evidence makes it clear that the shooter intentionally hid all of the 'bird evidence' from his parents.'

James and Jennifer allegedly purchased a gun for their son just before the school shooting, with his mom claiming it was a Christmas present. 

On the day of the shooting, Crumbley and his parents had met with school staff after a teacher was troubled by drawings that included a bloody body and a gun pointing at the words, 'The thoughts won't stop. Help me.'

School officials said Crumbley talked his way out of trouble by claiming the drawings were part of plans to create a video game. 

After the meeting, Crumbley was allowed to stay in school, about 40 miles north of Detroit, though his backpack was not checked for weapons. 

He later emerged from a bathroom with a pistol and began firing on fellow students. 

Police say Crumbley's first victim was freshman Phoebe Arthur, who was shot in the face but miraculously survived. A total of 13 people were shot, four of whom died.  

Prosecutors insisted Crumbley´s decisions can´t be mitigated by his young age or immaturity.