Families of Oxford victims call for statewide task force to investigate, more reforms

Pontiac — Families of the four Oxford students killed in 2021 continue to call for accountability and change, including the creation of a statewide task force and commission to investigate the emergency response to the shooting and mandatory statewide threat assessment policies.

In a statement issued Monday, the parents of Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin say they "speak with one voice" as they called for an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General's Office into Oxford Community Schools and the immediate removal of board members who were leading the district at the time of the violent attack at Oxford High School.

The parents held their press conference just days after an Oakland County jury convicted James Crumbley on involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with their kids' deaths. They said they have worked closely with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald on a list of common-sense reforms that will lead to accountability and change.

Buck Myre, Tate Myre's father, said he believes Michigan's new law requiring gun owners to secure their firearms when there are children in their households isn't a sufficient prevention measure by itself. It focuses on holding people accountable, but not institutions, he said.

"It's more than the gun. We're in a mental health crisis, and we've got to fix it, and we've got to fix it now," he said.

The parents are calling for the creation of a state agency focused on firearm violence prevention; statewide task forces and commissions responsible for investigating the response to the shooting; developing a framework for fully-funded, mandatory statewide threat assessment policies and procedures that include the structure and resources to oversee and hold schools accountable for implementation; and supporting legislation requiring independent investigations and after-action reports immediately following any mass shootings.

The families singled out their request for an investigation by Attorney General Dana Nessel's office into the responses to the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting. They say Nessel has not met with them to discuss their ask, and they feel ignored by her.

"We're not the bad guys. We just sent our kids to school," Buck Myre said. "Our attorney general needs to do an investigation on this starting tomorrow."

Nessel's office said in a statement to The Detroit News she has made offers to the school board in December 2021 and May 2022 to conduct an investigation, and the board has rejected her offers. Without the board's permission, the Department of the Attorney General can't launch an investigation on its own without probable cause to believe a crime was committed, a spokesperson said in an email.

"To launch our own criminal investigation, we must secure court orders for search warrants, and those must be predicated, in this instance, on probable cause that the school committed illegal acts.  To date, we have not been provided any information that would establish probable cause for search warrants, and are therefore unable to launch our own criminal investigation at present," the statement said.

A spokesperson also said the department doesn't have authority to open a civil investigation into a school district and its staff, based on consulting with legislators. The attorney general's authority for civil investigations is authorized by particular laws, such as the Michigan Consumer Protection, the statement continued.

"We understand the families are hurting and are understandably upset, but this does not change the law. The law falls short of their wishes here, in that we do not have the authority to fulfill a civil investigation in this way, nor a criminal investigation absent probable cause of criminal activity."

Steve St. Juliana, Hana's father, praised the investigation conducted by Guidepost Solutions released last October, which in part found the shooter slipped through the school's threat assessment and suicide intervention systems after missteps by school officials. But he and the other victims' parents said the findings left some things out. For one, Buck Myre said the report didn't address whether any mandatory reporting laws were broken by school employees.

"Mandatory reporting is always going to be the first line of defense in something like this," said Craig Shilling, Justin Shilling's father.

"It's embracing that part of your job ... and just exercising that extra bit of care to address even the most minute details."

Several Oxford teachers and staff members noticed troubling behavior by the shooter — such as researching bullets in class and the drawing of a shooting he made on a math worksheet — but none believed he posed a threat to others or searched his backpack the day of the shooting.

The parents also say they have lingering questions about how public safety agencies responded to the shooting at Oxford High School that they want a new investigation to look into. Hana St. Juliana's father, Steve, says it took more than 30 minutes for emergency medical responders to get to his daughter, while she bled to death.

"The shooter was taken into custody within nine minutes. Why the discrepancy?" St. Juliana said.

The families also want a review and revision of the terms of governmental immunity in Michigan. The concept generally protects governments against liability in lawsuits.

Nicole Beausoleil, Madisyn Baldwin's mother, said she believes a threshold to overcome governmental immunity would incentivize school systems to prevent mass shootings.

"If a school system wants to do their best, they're never going to do it because if they do something wrong, they're going to be able to hide behind governmental immunity," she said. "If you don't have that and you set that bar, then everybody is going to try to do a better job and actually protect our children."

On Thursday, just an hour after James Crumbley was found guilty, McDonald didn't rule out the possibility that her office may pursue charges against Oxford school officials for their role in the 2021 shooting. But by late Friday, Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Williams ruled out that out, issuing a statement saying "sufficient" evidence hadn't been found to charge the district.

"Our office has reviewed all of the evidence in the case," Williams said. "We did not find sufficient evidence to support criminal charges against any school district employees. We believe the Oxford community deserves full accountability, and we stand with the families in their pursuit of changes that would make that possible."

Again on Monday, McDonald's office reiterated that she has not seen evidence to support criminal charges against Oxford school officials.

"The Prosecutor has said from the very beginning that she has reviewed all available evidence and has not seen any evidence that would support criminal charges for anyone at Oxford High School or the district," said Betsey Hage, McDonald's chief of administration, in an email.

Both James and Jennifer Crumbley were convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with their son's mass shooting Nov. 30, 2021. The rare cases marked the first time parents had been criminally charged with manslaughter in connection with a school mass shooting carried out by their child.

They are set to be sentenced April 9. They face up to 15 years in prison. Ethan Crumbley, meanwhile, is already serving a life sentence at the Thumb Correctional Facility in Lapeer.

jcardi@detroitnews.com