PONTIAC, Mich. (Court TV) — Testimony is underway in the trial for the mother of a Michigan school shooter. Jennifer Crumbley is facing up to 60 years in prison for her alleged role in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting that left four students dead and seven people injured.
Jennifer is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Her husband, James Crumbley, will stand trial on the same charges in March. The Crumbleys are believed to be the first parents of a school shooter to stand trial on allegations that they caused their son’s actions through gross negligence or by willfully disregarding the threat he posed to others by failing to act on signs that he may be dangerous.
Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Ethan Crumbley, a teenager accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, appears during a preliminary examination on involuntary manslaughter charge in Rochester Hills, Mich., Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
In December, Jennifer’s 17-year-old son was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He previously pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism.
Prosecutors accuse the Crumbleys of giving their son access to a firearm and failing to exercise “reasonable care” to prevent him from intentionally harming others. The defense claims the parents had no idea their son was planning a shooting and could not have seen foreseen his actions. They also dispute they made the firearm easy to find in their home.
Prosecutors point to evidence that the Crumbleys should have been aware of. Months before the shooting, their son reported hallucinations to them and asked for help. He told a friend that Jennifer laughed at him and James told him to “suck it up” when he asked to see a doctor.
James bought the firearm used in the shooting three days before, and gifted it to his son despite signing a form that said it was illegal to buy a firearm for someone else. The next day, Jennifer brought her son to a shooting range with the firearm.
On the day of the shooting, the Crumbleys were called to Oxford High School for a meeting with a counselor after staff caught their son watching a shooting video on his phone, then found his disturbing drawings and writings. The counselor recommended he be removed from school and they seek immediate medical attention, but the Crumbleys refused.
Two hours later, the shooter opened fire, killing Madisyn Baldwin, Justin Shilling, Tate Myre and Hana St. Juliana.
Court TV is livestreaming the trial of MI v. Jennifer Crumbley.
DAILY TRIAL UPDATES
DAY 4 – 1/30/24
- WATCH: ‘Blood Everywhere’; ‘The World is Dead’: Dean Details Shooter’s Paper
- WATCH: Jennifer Crumbley in Police Cruiser: ‘My Son Just Ruined His Life’
- WATCH: School Shooter Mom Trial: Day 4 Recap
DAY 3 – 1/29/24
- Jennifer Crumbley addressed the court, agreeing to have thousands of pages of Facebook messages between her and her husband admitted into evidence.
- Jennifer Crumbley’s attorney apologized to the Court for an offhand comment she made in court on Friday.
- The horse farmer who boarded the Crumbleys’ horses testified that Jennifer contacted her about selling her horse in the hours after the shooting.
- The school counselor testified about notices from the school shooter’s teachers expressing concern about his behavior.
- The counselor testified that he summoned the shooter’s parents to school hoping that they would take him home.
- The jury saw a video of police speaking to Jennifer and James Crumbley in the immediate aftermath of the shooting rampage.
- Jennifer and James ask for their son to be represented by an attorney, preventing investigators from questioning the 15-year-old.
- Both appear shocked to learn that their son was the shooter, describing him as “the perfect kid, he doesn’t get in trouble at school.”
- WATCH: He’s a Perfect Kid’: Jury Sees Crumbley Parents’ Interview After Shooting
- WATCH: School Shooter Mom Trial: Day 3 Recap
DAY 2 – 1/26/24
- Prosecutors called only one witness Friday, a computer crimes expert who was tasked with gathering and analyzing digital evidence from Oxford High School’s surveillance system and the Crumbleys phones and social media accounts.
- Edward Wagrowski mined the school’s surveillance videos to create a minute-by-minute video timeline that included the moment the shooter was dropped off at school to the time he ended his rampage. His timeline also included his parents visit to the school, prompted by a call from the school counselor that the shooter had created an alarming drawing of a pistol on a worksheet, on which he also wrote, “Help me, blood everywhere.” His parents met with school officials for 12 minutes, after which Jennifer Crumbley returned to work and James Crumbley resumed his Door Dasher deliveries. Less than two hours after his parents left, the shooter changed his clothes, and began his shooting spree, injuring at least one teacher and claiming the lives of four schoolmates ranging in age from 14 to 17 years old.
- Texts, photos and call logs in the months leading up to the shooting painted a disturbing picture of the shooter’s deteriorating mental health exacerbated when his one and only friend abruptly left the state about a month before the shooting. Prosecutors allege the Crumbleys were more preoccupied with the wellbeing of their horses than they were with their son. To make their point the state displayed a string of texts between Jennifer and her son.
- On cross defense attorney Shannon Smith suggested that the government could not prove that her client saw the disturbing messages that the shooter sent his friend and that there were other messages that that did reflect Jennifer Crumbley’s concern that her son–normally happy—was depressed.
- Smith butted heads with prosecutors and appeared frustrated that she could not keep up with the rapid pace that Prosecutor Marc Keast was moving the digital exhibits into evidence. Tension boiled over when Keast at the end of the day suggested the court admonish Smith for joking about ‘killing herself.’ Smith protested sharply, stating her remark was not intended to offend anyone. Tempers erupted into an argument over which side was being more insensitive to the victim’s families. The judge put an end to disagreement by telling everyone to go home, but not before Smith gave into tears that flowed down her face smearing her makeup.
- WATCH: Attorneys Argue the Status of Jennifer Crumbley’s Son as Witness
- WATCH: Jennifer Crumbley Cries in Front of the Jury: Why That is Problematic
- WATCH: ‘Everybody Needs to Go Home’: Emotions Run High in Crumbley Courtroom
- WATCH: School Shooter Mom Trial: Day 2 Recap
DAY 1 – 1/25/24
- Megan Imirowicz, previously convicted in her father’s death, was kicked out of the courtroom in the trial of Jennifer Crumbley. Imirowicz and Crumbley became friends while incarcerated together.
- Assistant District Attorney Michael Keast opened for the state telling jurors that Jennifer Crumbley may not have pulled the trigger, but she was responsible for the deaths of four students at Michigan’s Oxford High School. He stated that ‘simple easy’ steps that the defendant could have taken would have prevented this tragedy.
- Defense Attorney Shannon Smith agreed that they would see ‘horrific and disgusting,’ details about the case but criticized the government for mischaracterizing the evidence and promised that her client would take the stand in her defense and give the state’s evidence context. Smith said the shooter’s rampage was not predictable, as the state suggests, because her client was was not aware of the extent of his mental deterioration.
- First to take the stand was Molly Darnell an educator at Oxford High School who locked eyes with the gunman and watched as he raised his pistol to aim and fired through the steel door she barricaded behind. The bullet struck her in the upper arm. She used her cardigan to create a makeshift tourniquet to stem the bleeding while she waited for help to arrive. As news spread through the school and community, she tried to stay calm but feared the worst and texted her husband, “Active shooter, I love you.”
- Assistant Principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall triggered a wave of sobs and tears as she described following the sound of gunshots and encountering the first fatality, Tate Myres lying prone on the floor. Prosecutors played the surveillance video from inside the school during her testimony. The sight of the shooter skulking the hallway looking for victims prompted sobs from the defendant. Jurors appeared teary-eyed and a box of Kleenex was passed among them as Gibson-Marshall choked up telling jurors she did not want to leave Myres’ side, as he lay still betraying no signs of life.
- The audible sobs prompted an objection from District Attorney Karen McDonald, who complained that the admonition from the judge ‘not to wear hearts on their sleeves,’ to the gallery where the victims’ families were seated should apply to both sides of the courtroom. McDonald was indignant that Jennifer Crumbley could express emotion yet, her team was warned not to. Defense Attorney Shannon Smith loudly denied sobbing, telling the judge, ‘My makeup is still on.’ Judge acknowledged the emotional nature of the case and that the displays of emotion despite best efforts could be involuntary.
- ATF agent Brett Brandon introduced the shooter’s Instagram posts and video surveillance from a gun range that appeared to show his deftness with firearms, and his unsupervised access to the weapons at home.
- READ: Prosecutor: School shooter’s mother is at fault for 4 student deaths
- WATCH: Victims’ attorney reacts to first day of Jennifer Crumbley’s trial
- WATCH: School Shooter Mom Trial: Day 1 Recap
