Recent cases in Michigan and Georgia where parents have been found guilty in connection with school shootings carried out by their sons set a precedent that might someday reach Wyoming, a defense attorney said.
A Georgia father found guilty of second-degree murder is “the second (such) situation in a second state, so maybe it’s starting to gain traction," Casper attorney Ryan Semerad told Cowboy State Daily.
“It’s not outside the realm of possibility for that to happen” in Wyoming, he said.
However, it’s also likely that such cases could be overturned on appeal, he added.
Parents Convicted in Michigan, Georgia
In 2024, suburban Detroit parents James and Jennifer Crumbley were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2021 shooting at Oxford High School, carried out by their son Ethan Crumbley, then 15.
Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life without parole.
Prosecutors argued that his parents gave him the 9 mm Sig Sauer pistol he used to kill four fellow students. And that they failed to make it inaccessible to him, even after he displayed alarming behavior indicating that he might go on a shooting spree.
Similarly, prosecutors successfully argued that Georgia Resident Colin Gray, 55, ignored warning signs and allowed his son, Colt Gray, access to an AR-15 style rifle that he’d bought for his son.
Colt Gray faces murder charges after allegedly using the rifle to kill two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Sept. 4, 2024, when he was 14.
A jury on March 3 found Colin Gray guilty of second-degree murder, cruelty to children and other charges.
Would Wyoming Charges Apply?
It might be more difficult for prosecutors to press such a case in Wyoming because of the state’s culture and the nature of its second-degree murder and manslaughter laws.
Children getting firearms and learning to shoot and hunt with them is commonplace in Wyoming, Semerad said.
“In Wyoming, we are intimately familiar with firearms and firearms safety. Our kids are basically raised with firearm safety for their entire lives," he said. "I think it would be harder to prove the parents were responsible (for a child committing murder) here."
As to the nature of murder and manslaughter charges, first-degree murder is as straightforward in Wyoming as it is anywhere else. It hinges upon proof of premediated intent to kill the victim, he said.
Manslaughter charges might be filed in cases of an “inflammatory instance,” such as crimes of passion, he said.
Second-degree murder can be somewhat murky in Wyoming, Semerad said.
It hinges upon “extreme indifference to the value of human life,” he said.
An element of recklessness might come into play, in terms of consciously disregarding potentially deadly risk. For example, if somebody decided to try driving blindfolded, Semerad said.
In light of that, it might be possible to piece together charges against a parent who provided a minor child with a firearm, and then the child subsequently committed murder with it.
“I’m not saying I agree with it, but I can see the thread that runs through it,” he said.
A key element would be proving that “it is painfully evident that the child is displaying dangerous and alarming behavior leading up to a shooting,” he said.
Prosecutors say Colt Gray displayed overtly alarming behavior leading up to the shooting, including displaying pictures of school shooter Nicholas Cruz on his bedroom wall. Cruz killed 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14, 2018.
In the Crumbley case, prosecutors say Ethan Crumbley made drawings with disturbing messages such as “blood everywhere” and “help me, the thoughts won’t stop.”
Cop Killer’s Mom Convicted
At least one person in Wyoming was recently convicted of a felony in connection with providing a firearm that somebody else used to commit murder. However, the charge in that case was providing a gun to a felon.
Eileen Marie Hurley was charged, prosecuted and convicted on a felony charge of unlawfully providing firearms to a convicted felon. That was her son, William Lowery, who shot and killed Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee on Feb. 13, 2024.
The slaying led to a standoff, with Lowery holed up in a Sheridan house. On Feb. 14, 2024, Lowery fled the home and was shot to death by a Casper Police Department Officer.
Deliberate Intent
A murder or conspiracy to commit murder might be built against a parent if there was proof of direct intent on the parent’s part Semerad said.
If, for example, a son came home and expressed to his father extreme disdain for bullies at school, and the father responded with, “Yeah, I think they should die, let’s go to the store and buy a gun,” he said.
There doesn’t seem to be any indication of direct intent on the parents’ part in the Michigan and Georgia cases, he said.
Without such proof of direct intent, such cases might not withstand a challenge in appellate court, he said.
Charges such as reckless endangerment might be filed against parents who leave firearms where young children can reach them, Semerad said.
He recalled defending one such case in Wyoming a few years ago, when firearms were left “sitting on the shelf” and a young child got hold of one and accidentally shot and killed a sibling.
In that case authorities backed off, he said.
“Law enforcement and the prosecutors were like, ‘this guy is burying a child. We don’t need to punish him further in the courts,’” Semerad said.
Gun Rights Supporters Urge Caution
Some gun rights advocates and a Wyoming firearms policy expert told Cowboy State Daily that laws are already in place to punish gun owners who knowingly provide firearms to criminals or dangerous people.
Gun owners can be held negligent in certain circumstances where firearms are used to cause harm, but “normally, you need intent for a murder charge,” said George Mocsary.
Mocsary is a professor of law at the University of Wyoming and director of UW’s Firearms Research Center.
He added that in any case, gun owners should be mindful of letting others have access to their firearms.
“Generally speaking, it’s a good practice to know who you’re giving a firearm to” and making sure that person is responsible and safe, he said.
Aaron Dorr, policy advisor for Wyoming Gun Owners, said that owners who are careless about access to their firearms should face consequences.
“Virtually every state in the country has some sort of penalty for somebody who recklessly leaves their guns lying around or knowingly gives them to somebody who might commit a crime,” he said.
The murder and manslaughter cases against the parents in Georgia and Michigan seem like a stretch and might not hold up against appeals, he added.
“What we’re seeing here are more emotive cases that are a complete miscarriage of justice, and we expect that they would be overturned on appeal,” he said.
Mark Jones of Buffalo, a national director for Gun Owners of America, said the cases against the parents should serve as a cautionary tale about firearms safety. Although they don’t seem to be a “Second Amendment issue.”
“I read about the case (in Georgia). It is always a tragedy when school shootings occur, and I think this is at least the second time a court has held a parent accountable for allowing access to a gun. I don't see this as a Second Amendment issue. However, all gun owners need to be aware of the responsibility that comes with owning firearms,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
