CNN –
A teenager accused of killing four students and injuring seven others at a Michigan high school last year pleaded guilty Monday to murder charges.
Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges against him, including one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder, for fatally shooting the four students at Oxford High School on Nov. 30.
Appearing in an Oakland County court, the 16-year-old answered “yes” when asked if he killed all of the slain victims, all identified by name.
Crumbley, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit and a medical mask pulled down below his chin, also confirmed that on the day of the mass shooting, he took a gun from an unlocked container at his home, hid it in his backpack and out of her bag in the bathroom before opening fire on her schoolmates.
The teenager faces life in prison without parole on several of the charges. His parents, who have pleaded not guilty to related charges, are scheduled to go on trial in January.
Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded not guilty to the charges but changed his plea at a hearing in Oakland County Circuit Court.
After Crumbley’s guilty plea Monday, state Judge Kwame Rowe scheduled a hearing for Feb. 9 and said he will set a sentencing date after that, allowing the victims’ families to speak at the hearing of sentence
The teenager’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting after prosecutors accused them of giving their son easy access to a gun and ignoring signs that it was a threat before the shooting.
Prosecutors argued that Jennifer and James Crumbley played “a much bigger role than buying their son a gun.” They said there were many things the parents could have done besides locking up the gun, which could have prevented the tragedy.
The parents have pleaded not guilty, and their lawyers have argued in court documents that the charges have no legal basis and that the couple should not be held responsible for the murders their son was accused of.
The parents’ trial was originally scheduled to begin Monday, but was postponed last month to begin in January. Jennifer and James Crumbley remain in custody at a county jail.
James Crumbley had bought the gun used in the shooting just four days before the deadly attack, prosecutors said.
During the teenager’s arraignment, prosecutors described Ethan Crumbley as “methodically and deliberately” walking through the halls, pointing a gun at students and firing at close range after emerging from a school bathroom with the firearm.
Students and faculty relied on tactics they had learned in active shooter drills to protect themselves. When the gunfire broke out, frightened students barricaded the doors, turned off the lights and called for help. Some of the children armed themselves with scissors in case they had to fight.
Four students died that day: Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana Santa Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. Six other students and a teacher were injured.