Worrying sketches made by accused Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley have been revealed by prosecutors as evidence against his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley.
Prosecutors in Oakland County on Thursday argued against a request by Mr and Ms Crumbley for a reduced bond when the images of Ethan’s homework were revealed. A court will now rule on the issue in January.
Court documents included images of Ethan’s homework from the morning of 30 November, allegedly featuring words such as “My life is useless,” “Blood everywhere” and “The thoughts won’t stop, help me”.
Portions of the page appeared to be scribbled out.
Oakland County prosecutors have accused the Crumbleys of negligence and of having responsibility for the school shooting, having purchased a gun for him.
“All they had to do was tell the school that they had recently purchased a gun for their son, asked him where the gun was, opened his backpack or just take him home,” it was alleged. “[The] defendants were in a better position than anyone else in the world to prevent this tragedy, but they failed to do so.”
The prosecution also argued that the Crumbleys “knew their son was depressed, that he was fascinated with guns... that he had been researching ammunition while at a school and that he was seen watching violent videos of shootings that morning”.
While the 15-year-old has been charged as an adult for murder and terrorism for the 30 November shooting. His parents have been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. All deny the charges.
The student reportedly told the school that the drawings were for “a video game he was designing”, and was afterwards allowed to return the class. School authorities and police had previously disclosed the existence of “concerning” drawings and two meetings between his parents and counsellors.
Tim Willis, a lieutenant with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, told ClickOnDetroit that on the morning of the shooting a “counsellor obtained the drawing, but Ethan had altered it”.
“The drawings of the gun and the bloody figure were scratched out, along with the words, ‘Help me,’ and, ‘My life is useless,’ ‘The world is dead,’ and, ‘Blood everywhere.’ They were all scratched out.”
Four students were killed in the attack.
