So many heinous, tragic, deadly mass shootings have taken place across the country in less than a year, that it becomes undeniably difficult to keep up with them all. But do not doubt, justice is working in the background.
According to new reporting from the Detroit Free Press, in the case against the parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, prosecutors are now arguing that Jennifer and James Crumbley personally turned their son into the killer he is today through their own “chaotic, toxic” behavior and their decisions to actively encourage their son’s violent tendencies.
The local publication is out with new reporting on a recent court filing that reportedly shows Oakland County, Michigan, prosecutors will soon tell jurors on the case against the Crumbley parents that both Jennifer and James regularly and intentionally exposed their son Ethan to “years of chaotic, toxic conflict” ranging from infidelity between the couple to financial issues in the household, all of which ultimately led Ethan down a path of extreme violence that would reach a deadly fever pitch inside his high school, where he claimed the lives of 4 of his classmates and injured an additional 7.
The court filing reads, “Put simply, they created an environment in which their son’s violent tendencies flourished. They were aware their son was troubled, and then they bought him a gun.”
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Both Jennifer and James Crumbley have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the roles they played in their son’s shooting at his Oxford County high school on November 30th, 2021. Prosecutors were sure to point out that Ethan’s parents personally chose to purchase the gun for the teen that he would go on to use inside his high school, rather than get Ethan the mental health help that he so clearly and desperately needed.
“All they had to do was pay the least bit of attention to their son,” prosecutors asserted in the new court filing.
Prosecutors heavily touch on the constant exposure to toxic and chaotic behavior during Ethan’s childhood, including his mother’s decision to take a 6-year-old Ethan to her boyfriend’s house, while still married to his father. This incident of infidelity allegedly fueled a massive, violent fight between Jennifer and James, that was allegedly caught on video that prosecutors hope to show the jury in the trial.
“The incident is relevant not only because of (Ethan’s) exposure to infidelity and conflict at a young age,” the new filing reads, “but also to show that (he) learned from his parents’ words and actions that he could be separated from one of them at any time.”
In addition to the evidence of the Crumbleys’ toxic home environment, prosecutors hope to submit excerpts from Ethan’s personal journal that further describe his tumultuous home life, and how it led to the fatal shooting.
A 22-page journal was discovered in the 15-year-old’s backpack on the day of the shooting with one entry reading, “This morning I woke up to my mom having one of her worst rants about how we have no money and can’t pay the bills. This just furthers my desire to shoot up the school or do something else. I have no happiness, or optimism left in me as I am a burden to my parents.”
“My grades are falling, my parents hate each other, we have no money,” a different journal entry reads. “I have zero help for my mental problem and it’s causing me to shoot up the f*cking school.”
Ethan Crumbley was charged with first-degree murder and remains jailed pending his trial in January. Reports have revealed that Ethan’s parents intend to call their teenage son as a witness in their own trial that is slated for October.
Featured image via screen capture
