James Crumbley's claim Wednesday that his teenage son failed to safely store the gun he used to kill four students in a 2021 school shooting alleges the Michigan father was negligent. This became the core of the prosecution's closing argument in the fatality trial.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen MacDonald told jurors Crumbley played the frantic 911 call he made after the assault, saying he “hurried home” to check for weapons. , recalled Crumbley telling investigators he hid a semi-automatic handgun in a cupboard and left ammunition behind. Under the jeans in another drawer. Four days before the incident, Crumbley purchased a 9mm Sig Sauer with a cable lock as a gift for his then 15-year-old son, Ethan.
“This is something I never heard him say,” McDonald said. “He never says, 'I can't imagine how he got this gun.' Four kids just died and your son is in custody, and he never says, 'How did he get this gun?' Did you get it?” So you know why he didn't say it? He didn't say it because he already knew. ”
Prosecutors argued that Mr. Crumbley's death would have been “preventable and foreseeable” had he made some “tragic little effort,” but Mr. MacDonald told jurors that a child could have owned a gun. They sought to weaken the defense's case by arguing that parents can be responsible gun owners, regardless of whether they plan to do so. Mass shooting incident.
“Just because you bought a firearm doesn't mean something like this should happen to you,” she said, adding, “Be wary of claims that it could be you.” .
The 12-person jury found 47-year-old Crumbley guilty of manslaughter by failing to store a firearm in a manner that prevented her son from accessing the gun and ammunition, or by failing to exercise “reasonable care.” You need to decide whether or not you are guilty of a crime. Kill his son and stop him from carrying out a mass shooting.
The unusual case largely mirrors the case last month against his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, who became the first parent in the United States to face criminal charges in a school shooting by a child. She is scheduled to be sentenced in April on the same four counts of manslaughter, each of which could carry up to 15 years in prison.
Ethan pleaded guilty as an adult to the deaths of four students: Justin Schilling, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17 years old. Tate Mire, 16 years old. Hannah St. Juliana, 14, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Defense attorney Mariel Lehmann said in closing arguments that prosecutors must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, saying Crumbley knew his son was a danger to the public and had access to a gun. He said he had not presented any evidence that he had done so.
“But you didn't see it because it's not true,” Lehman said. “James didn't know. That might be a fair question.”
“It's my decision to remain silent,” Crumbley told Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews, beginning the race to conclude the case.
Early Wednesday morning, the jury heard from one defense witness, his sister Karen Crumbley, who said Wednesday morning that her brother and Ethan's mother died in early 2021, months before the shooting. He testified that he met his brother and Ethan at the same time. She said she didn't notice anything “concerning” about Ethan's behavior or when he visited her brother in Michigan about four months before the shooting. .
Karen Crumbley, who lives in Florida and is in frequent contact with her brother even though they live in a different state, said it's wrong for children to have guns for their “free use.” but testified that adult supervision was required. I don't think there is any particular problem.
However, during cross-examination, Assistant Oakland County Attorney Mark Keast confirmed that the brothers only spoke on the phone three times in 2021 and shared 22 instant messages, adding that the two were not close. suggested that it was not.
Crumbley appeared emotional Tuesday as the video of the Oxford High School shooting by then-15-year-old Ethan was played to jurors.
His father looked away from the audioless video, even as Oakland County Sheriff's Office Lt. Tim Willis testified how Ethan shot and killed four students with a semiautomatic handgun his father had purchased days after Thanksgiving. I wiped my tears. As an early Christmas present.
“We had no idea what we were responding to, the police radio was blown up with calls,” Willis said of the day of the shooting in suburban Detroit. “It was chaos,” he added.
Oakland County prosecutors called 15 witnesses in Crumbley's trial, fewer than the 21 witnesses called in his wife's trial.
James Crumbley's trial hinges on similar charges that, as Ethan's parent, he had knowledge of his son's mental state and had access to firearms. Prosecutors say there was still “gross negligence” for failing to prevent the shooting death. He is not accused of having prior knowledge of the attack, which his son had warned about in his diary.
Willis shared messages the gunman wrote in the months and days leading up to the massacre. “Before I shoot up the school, I have to find where my father hid my 9mm.'' “I can get the gun and ammo. is.”
Much of the evidence presented and the witnesses called by prosecutors was similar to the case against Jennifer Crumbley.
However, the trial of James Crumbley proceeded at a faster pace and with distinct differences.
On the same day as last Thursday's opening statement, Matthews issued a statement on Crumbley's jail cell phone calls and electronic messages (attorney) after Crumbley allegedly made “threatening statements” of an undisclosed nature. signed a court order revoking the use of the tablets (except for use by authorized clerics, or for research purposes). .
During the trial, Jennifer Crumbley chose to testify, telling jurors that she regretted her son's actions but ultimately “did nothing” to raise him. Ta. This testimony was analyzed by the jury during deliberations.
Jennifer Crumbley's personal life was also a central factor in prosecutors' decision to separate her parenting, calling on the man with whom she had an affair to testify and making her more concerned about her own responses to emails from her son. I focused on how I was paying attention to my hobbies. message. Prosecutors also called a colleague of Jennifer Crumbley, who was a marketing director at a real estate company.
Jennifer Crumbley said her husband was responsible for the safety of the family's firearms, including the gun used by her son, but he also took care of other duties, such as keeping a job, managing finances and getting out of bed on time. He testified that he had not delegated any duties.
Jurors learned that James Crumbley was working as a DoorDash driver around the time of the shooting and was planning to take his son to the shooting range. In the months before the shooting, Ethan wrote in a text message with a friend that he was suffering from “severe insomnia” and paranoia, and contacted his parents, asking his father in particular to take him to the doctor. He suggested that he asked her to go.
“He just handed me the medication and said, 'Take it all,'” Ethan texted.
He also sent a video of himself holding a gun to a friend about three months before the shooting. “My dad forgot about it and I thought, 'Why not?' lol,” Ethan wrote.
As with his wife's trial, Crumbley's actions on the day of the shooting were widely discussed in testimony. That morning, Ethan's math homework was filled with pictures of guns, pictures of people being shot, and messages like “I can't stop thinking. Please help me,” so the Crumbleys decided to help Ethan. was called to the school.
Nicholas Ejac, who was Oxford High School's dean of students at the time of the shooting, testified this week that James Crumbley told his son at a meeting that he had someone to talk to and that he could write in his diary.
“He expressed concern for his son,” Ejak said.
But his parents refused to take him home and alerted the school that Ethan had acquired a gun. The boy continued shooting later that day.
On cross-examination, Lehman said he did not believe Ethan was an immediate threat, even though he knew that the teacher had caught him looking at the disturbing drawings and the bullets on his cell phone. He confirmed that he did not believe Ethan was an immediate threat and did not initially believe that Ethan was the shooter. During class the day before.
“Did you ever feel that Mr. Crumbley was neglecting your son?” Lehman asked Ejac, who also testified in Jennifer Crumbley's trial.
“No, I didn't,” Ejak said.
Mr. Lehman also took issue with Mr. Willis, the detective in charge of the investigation, who testified about what Mr. Ethan wrote in his diary about obtaining the gun.
“Do you remember reading anything that said, “My father told me where the guns and ammunition were?'' Lehman asked. Willis agreed not.
During the trial, Crumbley used an over-the-ear device to aid his hearing, something Lehman mentioned in his closing argument Wednesday and which prosecutors objected to.
Lehman stressed that Crumbley ended up hiding the gun his son used because Ethan had written the same thing in his diary.
“If it really was my son's gun, why was it hidden in James's bedroom where he didn't know?” she said.