Rochester Hills, Michigan (AP) – The day before four students were killed at a school in Michigan, the teenager’s mother, accused of carrying out the mass shooting, sent him a text message asking if he had shown teachers a “picture of your new gun”. an investigator testified on Tuesday.
The text was one of several between Jennifer and Ethan Crumble on November 29, after school officials left a voicemail informing her that the 15-year-old was looking for ammunition on her phone.
The judge must decide whether there is enough evidence to send Jennifer Crumbley and her husband, James Crumbley, to trial for manslaughter. This is a low threshold under Michigan law, but this case is very unusual because parents are rarely held criminally liable for teenagers accused of mass school shootings.
The Crumbleys, who are in jail on $ 500,000 bail, are accused of making a gun available to Ethan and did not intervene when he showed signs of mental suffering at home and at school. Four students were killed and others were injured in a Nov. 30 attack at Oxford High School, about 50 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit.
The school left a voicemail to Jennifer Crumbley the day before the attack, informing her that a teacher was concerned about searching for Eaton’s ammunition on his phone.
In court, Ed Wagrowski, a computer crime investigator at the Auckland County Sheriff’s Office, read aloud a series of texts exchanged between a mother and son.
“Seriously ?? Looking for bullets at school ??” wrote Jennifer Crumbley.
Her son replied, “Oh, yes. I already went to the office for that. All I did was look for a certain caliber at the end of the class because I was curious. Completely harmless. ”
“Did you at least show them a picture of your new gun?” Jennifer Crumbley asked.
“No, I didn’t show them a picture. My God, “he wrote.
Crumble’s lawyers insist the couple did not know their son could plan an attack and did not make the weapon easy to find in their home.
Prosecutor Karen MacDonald said she was trying to show that the couple had committed gross negligence. Her first witness was the stablemaster, where the Crumbleys kept two horses and visited three or four times a week.
McDonald’s questions were intended to show that parents appear to be more concerned about the health of a horse that has fungus on its feet than about their son’s “impaired” mental health.
Wagrowski read aloud text messages written by Ethan to his mother last March. The teenager said their house was haunted and a demon was throwing bowls. Jennifer Crumbley rode a horse and did not respond that day, the investigator said.
On the morning of the shooting, Jennifer and James Crumbley were called to the school and confronted Ethan’s drawings, which included a gun and the words: “Thoughts will not stop. Help me. “Authorities said the parents refused to take him home after the 13-minute meeting and were told to consult him.
Amanda Holland, a real estate associate, said Jennifer Crumbley shared a photo of the drawings when she returned to work from a school meeting.
“I told her I thought it was scary. She agreed, “Hollande said.
“I said it would be nice for her to take it for a day, to go watch a movie, to go to lunch,” Holland said. “I said she should have brought him home. I thought the picture was disturbing and this child should be around the family.
Jennifer Crumble said she “felt like a failure as a parent,” according to Holland, who added that it seemed “a little sarcastic.”
Jennifer Crumbley’s boss, Andrew Smith, said she also shared an image of the drawings with him, although he did not look at it immediately.
“She had said her son needed advice,” Smith said. “I think she mentioned that a family pet died and grandparents died. She felt like she was failing or failing. “
Until late in the afternoon, after the shooting, Jennifer Crumbley expressed concern about losing her job, Smith said.
“Please don’t judge me for what my son did.” I was surprised by this text, Smith said in court. “I was surprised that he was worried about his job at the time.
Ethan Crumbley has been charged as an adult with murder and other crimes. His lawyers have filed a notice of defense for insanity, which is likely to freeze his case while experts review it.
There was not much focus on James Crumbley on Tuesday, although his upset voice filled the courtroom when prosecutors released a 911 call he made after the shooting. He said his family was missing a gun and that his son was a student at Oxford.
Defense attorney Shannon Smith wiped Jennifer Crumbley’s teary eyes with a handkerchief during the hearing. She couldn’t do it herself because of the wrists.
The hearing will resume with more testimony on February 24.
White reported from Detroit.