There is plenty of blame to go around for the Michigan school shooting last week. It wasn’t just Ethan Crumbley, but his parents, too. It’s no wonder that they all landed in the same jail. According to the Detroit Free Press, Ethan Crumbley, 15, was charged as an adult in the mass shooting at Oxford High School, and he has been appointed a defense attorney. As the outlet notes, defendants who prove they cannot afford an attorney are entitled to court-appointed counsel at no cost to them. However, according to The Independent, the parents, who each face four counts of involuntary manslaughter connected to the shooting, have hired their own high-profile legal team to represent them.
Paulette Michel Loftin, a little-known Detroit-area defense attorney, was appointed by court officials on Thursday to represent the 15-year-old alleged mass school shooter.
“But, while the suspect’s parents Jennifer and James Crumbley appeared to choose not to foot their son’s legal bill, they took the step to hire two high-powered attorneys to represent themselves before they purportedly went on the run last week,” the outlet reports.
“The Crumbleys had retained Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman even before prosecutors charged them each with four charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection to last week’s deadly shooting,” the report continues.
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“Ms. Smith has represented a number of high-profile clients in recent years including disgraced former USA Gymnastics team doctor and convicted sex offender Larry Nassar, who was accused of using his position of power to sexually abuse more than 250 victims over two decades,” the report adds.
The mother of one of James Crumbley’s children reportedly called him a piece of shit. Michelle Cobb said of her ex-boyfriend and the father o,f her 18-year-old son, “He’s a piece of (expletive). He really is.” According to Cobb, even though James Crumbley earned a six-figure income, he made an issue of paying $67 a week for child support. But they can afford a high-profile legal team while their other son had to get a court-appointed attorney.
Featured image via Political Tribune gallery
