PONTIAC, Mich. – The trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a Michigan school shooter, reached its final arguments on Friday. The groundbreaking trial centers on whether she should be held accountable for the deaths of four students. Prosecutors presented a compelling case, highlighting a disturbing drawing created by her son before the tragedy. In the drawing, he pleaded for help.
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, and her husband, James Crumbley, 47, are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter. They are accused of allowing a gun to be accessible at home and neglecting their son Ethan’s mental health. This case marks the first time in the United States that parents have been charged in connection with a mass school shooting committed by their child.
The jury will begin deliberating Jennifer Crumbley’s case on Monday, with James Crumbley’s trial scheduled for March. Ethan, their son, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting, has already pleaded guilty to murder and is currently serving a life sentence. He killed four students at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021.
Under Michigan law, parents have a reasonable duty to prevent their child from posing a threat to others. Prosecutor Karen McDonald emphasized the significance of this case, stating that “unique, egregious, incomprehensible facts” are present. McDonald pointed out that small actions could have saved the lives of Hana, Tate, Madisyn, and Justin, the four victims of the shooting.
During the trial, prosecutors focused on two key events: the purchase of a handgun by James Crumbley and a meeting at the school where a teacher discovered Ethan’s violent drawing. The timeline and evidence clearly indicated that the parents were aware of their son’s troubling behavior. Jennifer Crumbley purchased 100 rounds of ammunition and they both took turns firing the gun.
In her closing argument, McDonald highlighted Jennifer’s social media posts, where she referred to the gun as Ethan’s Christmas gift. The prosecutor also emphasized that Jennifer expressed concern and characterized the situation as an emergency after being informed about Ethan’s drawing. However, the Crumbleys failed to take Ethan home from school or inform staff about the gun and their son’s hallucinations.
The defense attorney, Shannon Smith, countered the prosecution’s arguments by emphasizing that Jennifer Crumbley could not have foreseen her son’s actions. Smith implied that holding parents responsible for every action their children take would be unjust. She accused the prosecutors of presenting cherry-picked evidence and argued that the Crumbleys’ son was a skilled manipulator.
The trial revealed excerpts from Ethan’s journal that demonstrated his desperate mental state and his plea for help. Jennifer Crumbley testified, expressing that she would not have done anything differently and even wished he had killed the family instead. McDonald’s final statement to the jury reinforced the magnitude of the situation and the fact that Jennifer Crumbley still has her son, unlike the four victims’ parents.
After the shooting occurred, the Crumbley parents were found a few days later in a Detroit art studio. They denied attempting to flee and had a substantial amount of money and personal belongings with them. The shooting at Oxford High School resulted in the deaths of Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, and Madisyn Baldwin, along with injuries to ten other students and a teacher.
The jury’s decision in this landmark trial will not only determine Jennifer Crumbley’s fate but also potentially set a precedent for future cases involving parents’ responsibility in preventing school shootings.