November 30 marked the three-year anniversary of the Oxford High school shooting. Four students died after a 15-year-old classmate opened fire in the hallways.
They were Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Hana St. Juliana.
The shooter, who was 15 years old at the time, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His parents were also convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent the shooting. This week, Jennifer Crumbley, the shooter’s mother, filed documents asking a judge to vacate her conviction.
To date, prosecutors have not pursued charges against school staff at Oxford High, who had a meeting with the shooter and his parents before he started firing at classmates.
Steve St. Juliana, father of Hana, joined other victims' family members last month at a press conference where they urged Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to open an independent investigation into what happened at the school in the lead-up to the 2021 shooting.
According to St. Juliana, Nessel told families she could not investigate the incident without invitation from the local prosecutor or school board. He said he and others repeatedly requested meetings with Nessel, but were denied.
"And finally, [it] got to the point where the Oakland County prosecutor recently did some investigations on their own and, in researching the laws, they came back with a memo that says, in their opinion, the AG has the authority with or without a so-called invitation based both on common and constitutional law," St. Juliana said. "They cited recent examples of when the office of the AG has done similar things. And suddenly, now the AG is willing to do the investigation."
In response to the November 18 press conference held by St. Juliana and other Oxford family members, Nessel said her department would be willing to lead a probe into the shooting — if she had a referral from local officials. Several days later, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald officially referred the case to the AG's office and pledged her office's cooperation with a state investigation.
Hear Steve St. Juliana's full conversation with April Baer on the Stateside podcast.
