Teen to plead insanity in high school shooting

Ethan Crumbley’s lawyers filed a notice of the intent to pursue an insanity defense on Thursday. The 15-year-old is being tried as an adult on murder charges in the deaths of four Oxford High School students in a Nov. 30 shooting that also injured seven others. Also on Thursday, some parents of students who died in or witnessed the shooting sued Crumbley, his parents, and school administrators for negligence. The suit seeks at least $25,000 in damages and accuses Crumbley’s parents, the dean of students, two counselors, and three teachers of failing to remove him from the school after disturbing statements were found on homework pages.

What comes next? Crumbley will undergo mental health exams from the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry, which lawyers say might take some time due to a backlog of cases. After the medical reports are in, the judge will decide whether it is a valid plea. Under Michigan law, if someone is found not guilty due to insanity, they are referred to a psychiatric center for custody. If convicted, Crumbley could be sentenced to life in prison.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Dunn’s report in Schooled about how schools struggle to care for students who have experienced trauma.