According to reporting from the Detroit Free Press, prosecutors have now confirmed that they have successfully gathered enough additional, damning evidence against Jennifer and James Crumbley — the negligent parents of Ethan Crumbley, the demented teenager who opened fire on Oxford High School in November 2021, killing 4 and injuring an additional 7 — to force the couple to trial for their alleged role in their son’s deadly attack on his Michigan high school.
Jennifer and James Crumbley have already gone down in history as the first parents of a US school shooter to be formally, criminally charged in connection to a school shooting, as prosecutors say the couple’s gross negligence in the months, weeks, days, and hours leading up to the horrific shooting greatly contributed to their teenage son’s decision to bring the firearm he received as a Christmas present from his parents to his high school and gun down his fellow students.
Jennifer herself admitted during an interview after the shooting that she never paid much attention to the deeply disturbing drawings her son created on the morning of November 30th, 2021 — just hours before he would open fire on his school. The very same drawings that featured depictions of a gun, a bleeding human body, and the words, “The thoughts won’t stop, help me.”
Jennifer was personally called to Oxford High School by school officials on the morning of Nov. 30th after a teacher discovered Ethan’s heinous drawings. Jennifer said she “didn’t even look at them closely.”
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Prosecutors go on to point to Jennifer and James’ decision to flee their home in the aftermath of the deadly attack, noting that James pointedly took with them the receipt to the gun they gave their teenage son for Christmas, the very same one he used to shoot up his high school. A move that prosecutors say is a sign of a “consciousness of guilt.” Prosecutors also cited Facebook messages exchanged between Ethan’s parents, showing that they were both well aware of their son’s severe mental health state.
Given the evidence they have against them, prosecutors in the case fiercely argue that both Jennifer and James Crumbley had the ability to stop their son, getting him help for his agonizing mental distress, and preventing the school shooting that claimed 4 innocent lives. Instead, they chose to ignore what was glaring them in the face, and enable their son’s mass murder.
In their Supreme Court filing, prosecutors wrote, “Moreover, there is additional evidence regarding defendants’ knowledge of their son’s proficiency with firearms.”
Jennifer and James Crumbley have been in custody for 18 months now, on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Both of the parents are vehemently attempting to avoid a trial, claiming that they have been wrongfully charged in their son’s crimes.
Ethan, who was 15 years old at the time of the Oxford High School massacre, has pled guilty to murder charges.
Read the full report from the Detroit Free Press here.
Featured image via screen capture
