A Michigan teenager quietly confessed in court Monday that four fellow students were killed and seven injured in a high school shooting last November.
Teenager Ethan Cranbury pleaded guilty to 24 counts, including murder, attempted murder, terrorism and weapons violations, after answering “yes” to a series of questions posed to him by Judge Kwame Rowe. Oxford high school.
As the victim’s family listened in a crowded Oakland County courtroom, the defendant, now 16, made a disclosure that could play a role in the criminal case pending against his parents on charges of manslaughter. locked. “
Lawyers for the teenager’s parents, James and Jennifer Cranbury, were not immediately available for comment. Parents plead not guilty.
Parents are rarely prosecuted in connection with their children’s crimes, but Oakland County prosecutor Karen D. Macdonald said last year that despite a difficult legal battle, Cranbury’s actions would bring her to prosecution. He said it led him to a decision.
Ethan Cranbury also said at Monday’s hearing that he had asked his father to buy him the semi-automatic Sigsauer handgun that was used in the shooting at the Oxford school. But in court, the teenager said he gave his father money for the gun. The gun he purchased on November 26, four days before his shooting.
The defendant admitted Monday to killing 16-year-old Tate Maia. Justin Schilling, 17 years old. Madisyn Baldwin, 17 years old. 14-year-old Hanacent, her Juliana, and her seven others, including six students and one of her teachers, were injured.
He appeared in court under heavy security wearing an orange prison uniform issued by the Oakland County Jail, where he had been in custody for the past year. Noticeably taller and with longer hair than last year, he admitted he hadn’t made any promises to himself. He faces life in prison without parole, but his sentence won’t be handed down until next year.
His parents, who were not in court, are housed separately in the same facility.
The teenage attorney suggested in January that his client planned to defend himself for insanity, a plea that would be difficult to prove under Michigan law. Then last week, prosecutors said he would launch a guilty plea to all counts.
A hearing on Monday confirmed that the defendant had a new gun and 50 rounds of ammunition hidden in his backpack on the day of the shooting. Around noon, he loaded the gun into the school bathroom and opened fire.
Earlier in the day, his parents were called to school.
Guidance counselors summoned a couple at a hearing earlier this year to seek counseling for their son, who was found in class with a violent gun, a bloody figure, and the words “help me” and “help me.” My life is useless. “
The parents were the subject of intense raids after failing to appear at the indictment. They were detained in a commercial building in Detroit, and police said they appeared to be hiding.