The prosecutor who made history by handling the first case against the parents of a child charged in a mass shooting has advised prosecutors in the Georgia high school shooting case.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald took on the case of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Robert Crumbley in 2021. Crumbley's parents gave him a gun that was later used to kill four students and wound seven others, including a teacher, in November of that year.
Georgia shooter's father claims son was bullied at school, called 'gay' by classmates, 'it was very difficult'
The Oxford High School shooting bears similarities to Wednesday's Apalachee High School shooting, in which suspected shooter Colt Gray, 14, had his father, Collin, hand over the rifle that killed four people and wounded nine more.
McDonald convicted Ethan's parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, in connection with the Oxford High School shooting.
The prosecutor who first convicted the parents of a mass shooter advised prosecutors in the Apalachee High School shooting case that “it won't be easy.” (WJBK)
“It's not easy to get a conviction. [this set of] “It's a fact,” McDonald told FOX 2 Detroit. “This is the gross negligence standard for manslaughter in the state of Michigan, and it shouldn't be easy. It should be a rare case, an extremely rare case.”
Prosecutors also said not everyone agrees that parents should be held accountable in court for their children's actions.
“I know when the allegations were announced there was not a wave of support or acceptance,” McDonald told FOX 2 Detroit.
Georgia high school shooting suspect's father, Collin Gray, charged with murder, manslaughter, child abuse
“But looking at all the evidence we had that had not been made public, we knew that if it was reasonably foreseeable that our child would harm himself or others, we could not get away with such horrible behavior.”
McDonald's main advice to prosecutors involved in the Apalachee shooting trial of Colt and Collin Gray is to “do the right thing and be courageous.”
Collin Gray (54), the father of Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray (14), made his first court appearance in Barrow County Court in Winder, Georgia on Friday, September 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bryn Anderson)
Of the four people killed in Wednesday's shooting, two were students and two were teachers at Apalachee High School.
Colt Gray is being tried as an adult on four counts of felony murder. His father, Collin Gray, 54, is charged with four counts of manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of child abuse.
Georgia is one of 42 states, including Washington, D.C., that hold parents liable for the criminal acts of their children.
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Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
