An Oakland County judge has denied the Oxford High School shooter’s request for resentencing and withdrawing his guilty plea.

Appellate attorneys for Ethan Crumbley, who killed four students and injured six others and a teacher at a shooting at Oxford high school in November 2021, asked Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwame Rowe to resentence him and allow him to withdraw his guilty plea.

Crumbley pleaded guilty to terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted murder and 12 weapons offenses. He was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole in December 2023.

Rowe ruled Thursday that Crumbley would not be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas or be resentenced.

“The Court finds that Defendant’s plea was knowingly, voluntarily, and accurately given and there was no defect in the plea-taking process,” Rowe wrote in his ruling. “Additionally, trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to advise Defendant of a diminished capacity defense that was not a cognizable defense under the law or supported by the facts.”

He said he found the shooter’s sentence to be constitutional and proportionate to the seriousness of his crimes.

“Defendant takes issue with trial counsel allegedly not conducting interviews with lay witnesses; however, Defendant offers no factual predicate for this claim,” Rowe wrote. “Therefore, Defendant's argument is speculative, and the Court rejects it.”

Rowe noted he had seen the shooter’s school records and read interviews from people who knew about his childhood. Rowe said he had a “full picture” of the shooter’s life and life environment and he already found it to be a mitigating factor against giving him a life sentence. These additional witnesses would not change the outcome, Rowe wrote.

Crumbley's attorneys said his trial attorneys were not effective in investigating his "cognitive-adaptive deficits" and other mitigating factors.

Attorney Jacqueline Ouvry said the shooter's cognitive-adaptive dysfunctions — possibly caused by alcohol exposure in the womb — were never adequately raised during his plea and sentencing.

“Ethan was 16 years old, laboring with cognitive-adaptive dysfunction, and suffering from mental illness when he was tasked with evaluating whether to waive his trial rights and enter a plea,” Ouvry wrote in the motion to withdraw a plea.

Ouvry did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.

But Rowe criticized Ouvry’s argument that Crumbley might have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, despite having done no testing and never interviewing Crumbley. He said even if there had been evidence of this disorder, it would not have changed the outcome of the case.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald praised Rowe’s decision to deny the shooter’s motions.

“These are the right decisions under the law, and they allow us to continue doing the most important things — focusing on the victims and their families, and on preventing future shootings,” McDonald said in a statement.

Prosecutors told Rowe the shooter’s claims were "meritless" and "hollow."

Even if the shooter's attorneys had provided some of the new evidence appellate attorneys said they had, "it would not have made a difference in the proportionality of his sentence or the outcome of sentencing,” Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Shada wrote in a response to the motion.

"The hollow claims are insufficient to meet his heavy burden in establishing a factual predicate, deficient performance, and prejudice," Shada wrote. "In the range of defenses to pick from — including the one defendant attempts to assert now postjudgement — none of them escape the fact that this offender and his offenses are deserving of a life sentence."

Crumbley killed Oxford High School students Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17.

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