PONTIAC, Mich. – Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald made the case for the Oxford High School shooter to be sentenced to life without parole during his sentencing hearing.
On Nov. 30, 2021, a 15-year-old sophomore at Oxford High School brought a gun to the building and opened fire, killing four students -- 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling -- and injuring seven other people.
In October 2022, the shooter pleaded guilty to 24 felony charges. Judge Kwamé Rowe has ruled that the shooter is eligible to be sentenced to life in prison without parole, despite his age. The shooter’s sentencing hearing began Friday, Dec. 8.
Families of the students who were murdered and survivors of the shooting were given time to deliver victim impact statements. After the victim impact statements were read into the record, the prosecution and the defense were allowed to speak.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald spoke on behalf of the prosecution. She used her time to ask the judge to sentence the shooter to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
McDonald said that additional arguments the shooter made in his sentencing memorandum, which placed culpability on school officials was not enough to consider a lesser sentence. She said that while there were numerous failures that day by various people, the shooter was still the one responsible for his own actions.
“He consciously chose not to reveal his plans and that he, along with his parents, sought to cover up the fact that his parents just bought him a gun,” McDonald said. “There were numerous decision points where he had an opportunity to choose another path. He had an opportunity to say, ‘I want help. I’m planning on shooting the school up,’ in that office.
McDonald said that the sentencing hearing was about the victims.
“Today was about victims. Today we learned their names, their faces, and we heard their voices. It’s been two years. Two years. The statements made here today are just a small portion of the victims and their statements are only brief, but they reflect hundreds and hundreds of others. I’m not sure if the court is aware, but there were a lot more victims who initially intended to voice their oral statements and as today approached -- and even today -- decided that wasn’t something they could do, which is further evidence of the trauma.”
“There were common themes from these students. They don’t trust anyone anymore. They don’t trust any place anymore. They don’t think they’re safe. Some can’t sleep. Some have to sleep in their parents’ room. There’s a deep, deep loss -- loss of safety, loss of loved ones -- but most importantly, what I heard, was they lost themselves. And they’re working very hard to find who they were, with the acknowledgement that they will never be the same.”
She asked that the families of murder victims and survivors of the shooting get “the justice they deserve.” She asked that the judge sentence the shooter to life in prison without parole.