ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — The parents of a 15-year-old boy charged with killing four other students at his Michigan high school returned to court Thursday to face charges for making the gun used in the shooting available to the teen.
A preliminary examination for Jennifer and James Crumbley resumed in Rochester Hills District Court before a judge who will decide if there’s enough evidence to send the couple to trial for involuntary manslaughter. They are also accused of failing to intervene when their son showed signs of mental distress at home and at school.
Ethan Crumbley is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, terrorism and gun charges in the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit.
In addition to the four students slain, six other students and a teacher were wounded.
Defense attorneys on Thursday asked Oakland County sheriff’s Detective Edward Wagrowski whether he thought Jennifer and James Crumbley were aware their son was planning the shooting.
Videos and texts between Ethan and his friend, Brady, in August show Ethan with a gun and inviting Brady to a gun range, said Shannon Smith, Jennifer Crumbley’s attorney.
“The friend is saying things like ‘Nice. Now pull the trigger. jk, jk, jk,’” Smith told Wagrowski, who explained that “jk” is shorthand for “just kidding.”
“Ethan responds about how his dad left the gun out but Ethan knows gun safety so its no problem. And then he says: ‘Now, it’s time to shoot up the school. JK JK JK JK,’” Smith said.
“This conversation existed between Ethan and his friend, but there is not any kind of conversation like this between Ethan and his mother or Ethan and his father?” Smith asked, to which Wagorwski responded “no.”
But prosecutors alluded to a disconnect between Ethan and his parents, including texts to his friend in which he talks about his “dark side.”
“In a text on April 5, 2021, Ethan writes: ‘Now my mom thinks I take drugs. Like she thinks the reason why I’m so mad and sad all the time is because I take drugs, and she doesn’t worry about my mental health,’” assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said. “And then he writes: ’They make me feel like I’m the problem.’”
A day before the shooting, the school left a voicemail for Jennifer Crumbley informing her that a teacher was concerned that Ethan had searched for ammunition online using his phone. A sheriff’s office computer crimes investigator testified Feb. 8 at the couple’s preliminary examination that she later asked her son in a text if he “at least” showed school officials a photo of the gun the parents gave Ethan as an early Christmas gift.
On the morning of the shooting, Ethan’s parents were summoned to the school and confronted with his drawings, which included a handgun and the words: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.” Authorities said the parents refused to take him home after the 13-minute meeting and were told to get him counseling.
The Crumbleys are jailed on $500,000 bond. The case against them is highly unusual because parents are rarely held criminally responsible for teens accused in mass school shootings.
The Crumbleys’ attorneys have insisted the couple didn’t know their son might be planning an attack and didn’t make the gun easy to find in their home.
Last month, Ethan Crumbley’s attorneys filed a notice of an insanity defense.
He is lodged alone in a cell in the Oakland County Jail’s clinic to keep him from seeing and hearing adult inmates. Defense attorneys want him moved to a juvenile facility, but prosecutors say he would pose a potential risk of harm to the safety of other juveniles.
An Oakland County Circuit Court judge said during a hearing for Ethan Crumbley on Tuesday that he expected to have a ruling by early next week on whether the teen will remain in the adult jail or be transferred to the county’s Children’s Village.
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