DETROIT — The parents of accused Oxford High shooter Ethan Crumbley continued their pursuit for a halt to their case and a block on some evidence by appealing to the Michigan Supreme Court Monday.
The Michigan Court of Appeals previously rejected the appeal filed by the attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley that requested a stay on their case and for some evidence, including their son's journals and text messages, be considered inadmissible in the case against them in Oakland Circuit Court.
The parents each face four of involuntary manslaughter charges connected to the deaths of four Oxford High students: Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. Their son is charged in their deaths. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald took the rare step of charging the parents, making the argument they were grossly negligent in buying their then-15-year-old son a handgun and ignoring his mental state.
In the identical motions filed separately Monday, attorneys for the couple said "... the Crumbleys did not counsel (Ethan Crumbley) in the commission of the school shooting or act jointly with (Ethan Crumbley) in any way; to the contrary, the Crumbleys had no knowledge that their son intended to commit multiple homicides on November 30, 2021."
The parents' attorneys are arguing in the appeal to the state's highest court that they had no reason to believe their son posed a threat to himself or others, therefore they are not legally on the line for anything their son has done. The filing does place blame for the deaths solely on Ethan.
The attorneys also argue that certain entries in Ethan Crumbley's journals and text messages to friends where he talks about how he needs mental help are hearsay and would only serve to prejudice a jury. Some of the texts and entries show their son noting his pleas for help from his parents going ignored.
Experts told The Detroit News it's rare for the parents of suspected school shooters to face related charges, but McDonald said at the time that the charges are meant to send a clear message, that gun owners are responsible for their firearms and have an obligation to do what they can to prevent tragedy.
Court documents reflect that teachers had been alerting school officials that Crumbley had been looking up bullets and videos of people getting gunned down in class for days, even as recent as the day of the shooting.
The day of the shooting, after Ethan Crumbley turned in a homework assignment in class with the words "help me" and "blood everywhere" on it, his parents were called into a meeting at the school, a school counselor testified in February in the case against the parents.
The parents refused to take their son out of school that day, saying they had to go back to work. It is believed by the prosecution that Ethan Crumbley brought the gun his parents had bought him just days prior to school in his backpack which went uninspected during the meeting.
In addition to the Michigan Supreme Court request this week, the Crumbleys' defense attorneys filed motions with Oakland Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews on Monday with similar complaints about pretrial, prejudicial emails by Oakland Prosecutor Karen McDonald updating Oxford residents on pending legal matters. Some of those private emails were subsequently posted on Facebook, according to defense lawyers. They are also seeking to have their clients' bonds modified and have them released from jail.
Defense attorneys contend the Crumbley parents require a more reasonable bond because they are unemployed and can't come up with $500,000 each to get out of jail. Attorneys propose some form of lower bond with conditions they reside with family and wear GPS tethers. Their initial jury trial date has already been adjourned into January at the earliest.
The Crumbleys' next pretrial court hearing date before Matthews is set for Oct. 28 to determine the admissibility of McDonald's proposed expert testimony that the couple provided a "pathway to violence" and a "set of behaviors" and "exposing their son to years of chaotic, toxic conflict" leading up to the Oxford High shooting. At issue forensic psychologist and criminologist Jillian Peterson, who has studied, written and spoken extensively about mass shooting trends.
