Very soon after 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley opened fire inside Oxford High School and gunned down 4 of his fellow students, news began to break of the teen’s parents’ involvement in the tragedy.
While Jennifer and James did not shoot up their son’s high school, it quickly became crystal clear that the couple not only blatantly ignored the numerous warning signs that their son was extremely trouble and soon to become violent, they actually contributed to his violent obsessions and even allegedly purchased their son the very firearm he used in the shooting as an early Christmas gift.
All of this ultimately led to Ethan’s parents being charged with involuntary manslaughter, due to all of the flashing warning signs that they egregiously ignored leading up to the tragedy.
But now, as the trial against Jennifer and James Crumbley mounts, prosecutors are revealing even more warning signs that were present in Ethan Crumbley, that his parents chose to ignore, and while they’re all terrible in their own right, some of them are downright chilling.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Multiple reports have told of the drawings Ethan made on a piece of math homework that was discovered by a teacher at his school and led to a meeting with his parents — in which school officials urged Jennifer to take her son home for the day, and she allegedly refused. The very same day that he would go on to open fire on his high school.
But as it turns out, there were more than just some disturbing doodles on Ethan’s homework that pointed to an impending tragedy. So much more.
Oakland Prosecutor Karen MacDonald has acknowledged the break from precedence when it comes to charging the parents when such a tragedy takes place. However, she noted that Jennifer and James “were made aware, in graphic form, of the serious risk posed by their son prior to the shooting.”
“This is not a case of hindsight, where parents later wish they could have done something,” a filing from the prosecutor’s office reads. “These parents could have done something.”
Prosecutors noted that Ethan was showing multiple signs of impending violence for weeks leading up to the shooting.
“They knew that their son was depressed, that he was fascinated with guns… that he had been researching ammunition while at a school and that he was seen watching violent videos of shootings that morning,” court documents read.
“Their son was torturing animals, even leaving a baby bird’s head in a jar on his bedroom floor, which he later took and placed in a school bathroom.”
15-year-old Ethan Crumbley is facing 24 different charges in connection to the shooting, including four counts of first-degree murder and one count of terrorism causing death. The teen has pleaded not guilty.
This week, his parents were denied in their request to have their half-million-dollar bonds reduced to $100,000 and be allowed to wear GPS tracking devices should they make bail and be released from jail.
Read the full report from the New York Daily News here.
Featured image via screen capture
