The alleged school shooter Ethan Crumbley has been appointed a lawyer by the court while his parents hired their own expensive legal team to fight their lesser charges, the Independent reports.
Crumbley is accused of fatally shooting four students and injuring seven at Oxford High School in Michigan on November 30.
He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. The teenager pleaded not guilty to the charges.
His parents Jennifer and James Crumbley have been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and also pleaded not guilty.
But despite their teenage son battling serious murder and terrorism charges, Jennifer and James chose not to hire a private attorney to represent him.
Those on trial who do not have the funds to afford a legal team are entitled to a court-appointed attorney, covered by taxes, and so the 15-year-old will have someone to represent him in court.
Representing the young suspect will be Paulette Michel Loftin, a lesser-known defense attorney based in Rochester, Detroit.
She was appointed by the court last week and told the Detroit Free Press that she was hired as the high school student could not afford his own legal team.
Ethan's parents, who were charged with involuntary manslaughter as accessories in the murders, have hired attorneys Mariell Lehman and Shannon Smith, who represented convicted sex offender and former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
Another of Smith's previous clients is Jumana Nagarwala, who was accused of performing female genital mutilation.
Criminal defense attorney Bill Swor suggested to the Detroit Free Press that the Crumbleys do not have the funds to cover their son's expensive murder trial, especially as they are also facing over a decade in prison if found guilty on their own charges.
"In some ways, the parents have got a harder case than the kid," he said. "They're adults and he's a child, and the father bought the gun. The mother made the (social media) postings, and public officials... made public statements that are very prejudicial."