Expanding Homicide Liability for a Parent’s Omission

Earlier this year, Jennifer and James Crumbley were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10-15 years for not stopping their teenage son, Ethan, from killing four students at his high school. This is the first known occurrence of an American prosecutor obtaining a homicide conviction relying on a parental omission—or failure to act—where the victim was not the parent’s own child. Parental omissions historically have only triggered homicide charges if the parent fails to protect their child, not others, from harm. Unlike the general population, parents owe a special duty to their child because they are the ones tasked to oversee the child’s care.

The Crumbley verdict has dislodged this longstanding criminal precedent. It has expanded a parent’s common law duty to include protection of the would-be victims of their child’s criminal acts. Recently, Georgia has brought manslaughter charges against the parent of a school shooter under similar circumstances. This Essay provides the first legal assessment of this prosecutorial theory and analyzes the various doctrinal, constitutional, and policy considerations surrounding its use.