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Ethan Crumbley, the Michigan 16-year-old accused of gunning down four Oxford High School students and injuring seven others in a November 2021 shooting, has entered a guilty plea Monday to all the charges facing him.
Crumbley, appearing at the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac, faces a total of 24 charges, including murder and terrorism charges.
Judge Kwamé Rowe accepted the plea and said a sentencing hearing will take place after the next in-person hearing, scheduled for Feb. 9, 2023.
ETHAN CRUMBLEY EXPECTED TO PLEAD GUILTY, PROSECUTORS SAY
Ethan Crumbley attends a hearing at Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Michigan, on Feb. 22, 2022. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP, Pool)
In the gallery, some relatives of the victims were weeping as assistant prosecutor Marc Keast described the crimes, according to the Associated Press. The teenager repeatedly said "yes" to each detail.
A first-degree murder conviction typically brings an automatic life prison sentence in Michigan, but teenagers are entitled to a hearing at which their lawyer can argue for a shorter term and an opportunity for parole, the Associated Press reports.
The teenager withdrew his intent to pursue an insanity defense as part of the plea and repeatedly acknowledged that he understood the potential penalties.
Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting, initially pleaded not guilty in January.
Ethan Crumbley attends a hearing in Pontiac, Michigan, on Feb. 22, 2022. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP, Pool)
Crumbley's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, also face four counts of involuntary manslaughter each.
Prosecutors argue that the couple should be held responsible for the shooting because they had bought Ethan a gun on Black Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. In a motion filed earlier this year, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald referenced a social media post from Jennifer Crumbley in which she said that the parents had purchased the pistol as a Christmas gift for their son.
"He didn't just snap," McDonald wrote in a Sept. 9 motion to admit evidence, "he followed a pathway paved for him by prior shooters, and enabled by these defendants."
Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Ethan Crumbley, appears during a preliminary examination on an involuntary manslaughter charge in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on Feb. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
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McDonald and others have pointed to evidence alleging that Crumbley drew disturbing images in school, searched for ammunition on his phone during class and displayed other signs of concern that went largely ignored by school administrators, according to attorney Ven Johnson, who has filed lawsuits on behalf of the families of victims who died in the shooting.
Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling were killed, while six students and a teacher were wounded.
Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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