“From some other articles it seems like they were actually engaged parents.”

I had the chance to check that link, and some other articles. That doesn’t appear to be the case. The therapy was a planned therapy. It looks like it was going to begin that day. He had asked for therapy after he tried to kill himself a month before the shooting. The parents never set it up. The kid was obviously crying out for help.

King said the shooter was raised in a turbulent home by parents who left him alone for hours, argued in front of him and weren’t discreet when discussing infidelity, divorce and suicide. The boy was even forced to figure out what to do with his beloved dead dog.

His parents had assured school staff that he would get counseling within 48 hours after they saw his violent drawings.

“When I interviewed Ethan and just looked at his profile, there is a high level of isolation, lack of parental support, lack of guidance, lack of resources, so psychologically and socially he can be considered a feral child,” King said.

“Someone who is abandoned has what is called arrested development, hence they lack social skills, they lack social awareness, they lack social cues and essentially become misfits in society,” King explained.

The parents blew it. This isn’t because of too few mental health resources, or too many participation trophies.

@fppf
Thanks for the extra context. Most parents would have a hard time believing their child could really be a murderer. This case seems like a wild legal precedent. I’d like to hear a legal expert’s opinion on it.

“They had their son enrolled in therapy too.”

Was he also on anti-depressants at one time or another? Some people think that might mean the drugs cause this. Possibly. I think it’s evidence that the drugs AND the therapy don’t work as advertised. Yet, almost every article, and many comments, act like it’s an issue that’s only lacking funding. “We need more mental health resources.” Have we ever, in the history of the world, had more people in therapy and on anti-depressants? Why would we do more of the same and expect different results? Maybe the answer lies elsewhere. No one wants to talk about it because the answer doesn’t involve more funding.

From some other articles it seems like they were actually engaged parents. When the school called they took it seriously and both attended the meeting. They had their son enrolled in therapy too. I’m really surprised their lawyer didn’t get them aquitted. This article doesn’t paint a deadbeat parent at all https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/jennifer-crumbley-trial-cell-phone-records-show-how-oxford-shooters-parents-treated-nov-30-2021

Hindsight is 20/20. I doubt they thought he was capable of murder. They probably thought it would blow over. They also probably didn’t take it seriously because they most likely didn’t take much seriously when it came to parenting.

Preach it…

“…From this article it seems obvious that the parents had multiple opportunities to take action that may have prevented this crime; but, the parents did nothing…”

Parents have powerful motivation to do nothing, that being, their ‘status’ in the community by exposing a monster and “ruining him for the rest of his life”, is the driving (lack of) mentality.

Much better (for them) to just ignore it and pretend it isn’t happening, in a few years he’ll be out of the house and no longer their responsibility. They gambled, they lost…

“My work has me around a lot of kids and their parents. I’ve observed the parents see their kids as special, gifted, a gift themselves, etc… no matter how much of a cretin the kid actually is.”

Egg-zactly.

Why I had a response ready for Bosch’s comment of :

“As a parent, I’d be hard pressed to ignore signs my kids need help. In fact, I pay close attention.”

You would like to think that, you probably even believe it, the reality tends to be vastly different. I had personal experience with such a parent in 1975.

Coming out of her mouth “Our son would NEVER do anything like that!”

Saying to myself : “Say, WHAT? It was his idea in the first place!” Parents will go to *extreme* lengths to only believe the best of their shit kids, as I personally found out in the summer of 1975.

(Let’s just say my ‘friendship’ with that kid ended right then and there…)

“I’m willing to bet these convictions will not survive the appeals process.”

That takes considerable money by the defendant, money they most likely don’t have anymore, if they ever had any in the first place…

Involuntary manslaughter is having the time and opportunity to prevent or possibly prevent a killing and do nothing. The act of doing nothing or making the wrong decision is what can lead to such a charge. In other words, they did not commit the actual crime but they did noting to prevent another person from committing the crime.
From this article it seems obvious that the parents had multiple opportunities to take action that may have prevented this crime; but, the parents did nothing even after seeing the drawing and leaving their son in school that unfaithful day.