PONTIAC, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The now 17-year-old who admitted to killing four students and injuring seven other people at Oxford High School in November 2021 was not mentally ill at the time, according to a psychiatrist who interviewed Crumbley after the shooting. Dr. Lisa Anacker testified that Ethan Crumbley understood the tragic consequences of his actions.

“I can absolutely understand how it would be difficult to imagine how a sane person could commit mass murder,” said Dr. Lisa Anacker. “But the research does show us that mental illness does not account for most of the violence in our country.”

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This is the fourth day of Crumbley’s Miller hearing, in which a judge will decide whether the teen will get a life sentence. Because of his age at the time of the killings, Crumbley cannot receive an automatic life sentence without this specific hearing.

In addition, Dr. Anacker said Crumbley clearly communicated to police after the shooting.

“I asked the defendant if he was hallucinating at the time of the shooting. He told me he was not,” Dr. Anacker testified.

The prosecution has argued Crumbley methodically planned the shooting, expressed it in a journal, strategized the shooting and recorded a manifesto the night before the shooting. He strategized who he would shoot first and even plotted to stay alive so he could witness the suffering.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has acknowledged that Crumbley’s home life is an issue in his case, but maintains it’s not enough to excuse what he did.

Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are facing legal troubles of their own. They both are fighting four charges of involuntary manslaughter for not getting their son the help he needed and buying the gun for him used in the shooting.

A decision on a sentencing recommendation is not immediately expected.