The State Appellate Defender Office says they are appealing Ethan Crumbley’s sentence for the Oxford High School shooting based on new evidence.
Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting that killed four people. He pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism.
According to the State Appellate Defender Office, minors like Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 when he committed the mass shooting, have an incredibly low chance of committing another crime. Minors sentenced to life without parole have a recidivism rate of just 1%, compared to a national recidivism rate of 40-68% for other age groups.
On Friday, they filed a motion requesting the trial court to review new evidence and to grant a resentencing.
In a statement, the Office said in part:
“New evidence includes seven witnesses who could have discussed Ethan’s childhood struggles and his other’s alcohol abuse during pregnancy; the potential impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder on Ethan’s life including the social and emotional maturity of a child younger than their chronological age; and an expert witness to properly present information about Ethan and his childhood rather than one who cut and pasted information from other reports and did not understand the indicia for evaluating a life without parole sentence for a child. This new evidence also sheds light on whether Ethan properly understood his plea when entered, and he is asking the court to review the plea process. Due process requires that every person who pleads must understand what they are doing, this is even more true when the person pleading is a child.”