Judge to decide whether school shooter can be sentenced to life without parole

Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley is set to learn in a court hearing Friday whether he can serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The hearing -- called a Miller hearing -- is being held due to Crumbley's age. He was just 15 at the time of the shooting, and juveniles convicted of first-degree murder in the state of Michigan cannot automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole, like adults.

A separate hearing will be held in December for his sentencing.

Crumbley pleaded guilty to killing four students and wounding seven others at a Michigan high school in November 2021.

The hearing began in July when victims of the Michigan shooting gave emotional testimony in court.

Heidi Allen, a 17-year-old survivor of the shooting; Keegan Gregory, a 16-year-old survivor of the shooting; Assistant Principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall; and Molly Darnell, a teacher shot in the rampage, all testified about the shooting during the Miller hearing.

Crumbley opened fire on students in a school hallway, including 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin -- who were both killed in the shooting -- and 14-year-old Phoebe Arthur -- who was injured.

"I saw Phoebe get shot, I saw her boyfriend [get shot], then I saw a group of girls [get shot], then I looked away," Allen said. "I just prayed and I covered my head because I didn't know if those were my last moments."

Darnell testified about getting shot in her classroom while trying to lock the door.

"I was still in disbelief that I had been shot, but what I knew was I was bleeding," Darnell said.

Ethan's parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter after allegedly failing to recognize warning signs about their son in the months before the shooting. A three-judge panel with the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in March that they would go to trial. Both have pleaded not guilty.