Facing likely prison sentences, Michigan school shooter’s parents seek mercy from judge

By ED WHITE (Associated Press)

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A judge agreed Tuesday that the parents of a Michigan school shooter were trying to avoid police when they were holed up in a Detroit art studio before their arrest in 2021.

James and Jennifer Crumbley were in court to face sentencing for involuntary manslaughter for their role in an attack that killed four students at Oxford High School in 2021. Prosecutors want at least 10 years in prison.

But Judge Cheryl Matthews first heard arguments over sentencing guideline scores, a technical step that can influence the punishment.

Defense lawyers argued the couple had eventually planned to surrender after charges were announced and were at a friend’s art studio for their own safety. A coffee roaster recognized their car in the parking lot and called 911.

“They brought the circus to Detroit,” the judge said, referring to a wee-hours arrest by waves of police.

Separately, Judge Matthews said James Crumbley’s profanity-filled remarks about prosecutor Karen McDonald while in jail were threats, not harmless frustration. “You better be … scared,” he said on Jan. 3.

Five deputies in the courtroom stood watch over the Crumbleys and more lined the walls. They are the first parents convicted in a U.S. mass school shooting.

They did not know their son, Ethan Crumbley, was planning the shooting at Oxford High. But prosecutors said the parents failed to safely store a gun and could have prevented the shooting by removing the 15-year-old from school when confronted with his dark drawing that day.

In a court filing, defense attorney Shannon Smith said Jennifer Crumbley is “not a threat to the community,” and she’s even willing to put her up in a guest house at the lawyer’s property, outfitted with an electronic tether.

“Putting Mrs. Crumbley in prison does nothing to further deter others from committing like offenses,” Smith said. “There is no person who would want the events of Nov. 30, 2021, to repeat themselves.”

Smith said “any gross negligence” were mistakes “that any parent could make.”

Mariell Lehman, a lawyer representing James Crumbley, said the nearly 2 1/2 years spent in jail since the couple’s arrest is enough time in custody. His wife, too, has been in jail, both unable to post a $500,000 bond before trial.

James Crumbley “did not believe that there was reason to be concerned that his son was a threat to anyone,” Lehman said.

Ethan Crumbley, now 17, pleaded guilty and is serving a life prison sentence.

Prosecutors said “tragically simple actions” by both parents could have stopped the catastrophe.

The couple had separate trials in Oakland County court, 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Detroit. Jurors heard how the teen had drawn a gun, a bullet and a gunshot victim on a math assignment, accompanied by grim phrases: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me. My life is useless. Blood everywhere.”

Ethan told a counselor he was sad — a grandmother had died and his only friend suddenly had moved away — but said the drawing only reflected his interest in creating video games.

The Crumbleys attended a meeting at the school that lasted less than 15 minutes. They did not mention that the gun resembled one James Crumbley, 47, had purchased just four days earlier — a Sig Sauer 9 mm that Ethan had described on social media as his “beauty.”

His parents declined to take him home, choosing instead to return to work and accepting a list of mental health providers. School staff said Ethan could stay on campus. A counselor, Shawn Hopkins, said he believed it would be safer for the boy than possibly being alone at home.

No one, however, checked Ethan’s backpack. He pulled the gun out later that day and killed four students — Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin — and wounded seven other people.

There was no trial testimony from specialists about Ethan’s state of mind. But the judge, over defense objections, allowed the jury to see excerpts from his journal.

“I have zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up the … school,” he wrote. “I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help.”

Asked about Ethan reporting hallucinations months before the shooting, Jennifer Crumbley, 46, told jurors he was simply “messing around.”

At the close of James Crumbley’s trial, the prosecutor demonstrated how a cable lock, found in a package at home, could have secured the gun.

“Ten seconds,” McDonald said, “of the easiest, simplest thing.”

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