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A mother in Michigan has become the first US parent to be convicted of involuntary manslaughter, in connection with a school shooting carried out by her son.

Jennifer Crumbley and her husband bought their 15-year-old son a gun just days before the shooting in 2021. She was found guilty on all four counts - each with a possible sentence of up to fifteen years in jail.

Her son, Ethan, was sentenced in December to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Hana St Juliana, 14, Myre, 16, and Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling, both 17.

The question at the heart of the trial was whether the mother could have foreseen and prevented the deadly crime. Prosecutors accused Jennifer Crumbley of ignoring his worsening mental state throughout her trial. Her husband is also facing a separate trial on the same charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

So has the ruling set a new legal precedent? Newsday asked Ekow N. Yankah - a Thomas M. Cooley Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan.

"This was a stunning case full of shocking facts. Certainly there are plenty of cases where parents are found guilty of their own negligence harming somebody. But to have a prosecutor make an argument that because of your negligence somebody else killed a third person - that cuts against one of the core legal arguments that we teach in first year of law school. It feels today like the law may have changed."

(Pic: Jennifer Crumbley; Credit: Reuters)

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