Friday, December 8, 2023

Pontiac, Mich. - On Friday, December 8, 2023, Judge Kwamé Rowe sentenced the Oxford High School shooter to life without the possibility of parole for carrying out a mass school shooting at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021. The defendant was convicted of all 24 counts brought against him, including Terrorism Causing Death, four counts of First-Degree Premeditated Murder, seven counts of Assault with Intent to Murder, and 12 counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony.

During the sentencing hearing, family members of the students who were killed - Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Madisyn Baldwin, and Justin Shilling made victim impact statements describing unbearable grief and loss. The Judge also heard emotional impact statements from the surviving shooting victims and their family members.

The shooter is the first person in the country to be convicted of terrorism related to a school shooting. The historic conviction is important because it recognizes and acknowledges that all of the students and staff who were in Oxford High School that day were impacted, whether they were physically wounded or not, and it gives them rights under the Michigan Crime Victim Rights Act. That includes the right to speak at sentencing, and more than 20 terrorism victims spoke today before the Judge announced his sentence.

“Today is about victims. Today we learned their names. Their faces. We heard their voices,” stated Oakland County Prosecutor KAREN D. McDONALD. “The sheer force of destruction, violence, trauma and murder the shooter caused that day did not stop at the doorway of Oxford High School. It was carried through the doors and out into the community. We cannot understand. But we can give them the grace and dignity they deserve by listening.”

“Today cannot be the end of this story. We all have a responsibility to Hana, Madisyn, Justin, and Tate to act. We cannot stand by and watch as these tragedies continue. We are not helpless, and I will do everything in my power to prevent the next shooting.”

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Contact: ocpomedia@oakgov.com