Former Parkland Judge Elizabeth Scherer praised the sentencing of the Crumbley parents, Tuesday on Fox News, whose son killed four students in 2021 during a school shooting.
Scherer appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” to discuss James and Jennifer Crumbley’s sentencing of 10 to 15 years after being convicted in March for involuntary manslaughter after prosecutors showed both parents had a “significant lack of remorse.” Fox host Jesse Watters asked the former Parkland, Florida judge whether she believed that the decision was a legally sound ruling, to which Scherer stated “Absolutely.” (RELATED: Judge Sentences Parents Of Michigan School Shooter To 10-15 Years In Prison)
“Absolutely. For years, Jesse, when I worked as a prosecutor for 10 years in violent crimes and then I was a judge for 10 years something like this used to be termed felony stupidity. In other words you have this parent who’s got a kid that’s doing something extremely alarming and the parents just [have] their head[s] in the sand, not doing anything to prevent what could easily be a preventable tragedy,” Scherer stated.
“I think that this was a sound ruling and I think it sets a precedent that parents cannot be stupid anymore. You have rights as a parent, you have constitutional rights to bear arms, but with those rights comes responsibility. These people, and all parents, owe it to the community to exercise those responsibilities with those rights. I think they go hand-in-hand,” Scherer continued.
“You don’t buy your 15-year-old son with no friends, wearing weird clothing, [and] writing in mental health journals about sadistic, sick, twisted fantasies a handgun and then not keep it locked up,” Watters responded.
In November 2021, then 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley carried out a shooting at his school, Oxford High School, in Michigan killing four students and injuring seven others. Following the incident, the teen was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of felony firearm.
While James and Jennifer Crumbley apologized to the families during their sentencing, prosecutors argued that the parents were willfully negligent. James Crumbley was deemed complicit as he bought his son’s weapon for him before the incident. All three of the family members are expected not to be held in the same facility, according to the judge’s ruling.