James Crumbley involuntary manslaughter trial: Watch replay
After a fast start last week, James Crumbley's involuntary manslaughter trial resumed Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court.
Crumbley and his wife, Jennifer, whose teenage son murdered four students and injured seven other people at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, are the first parents in America to face criminal accountability for a child's school shooting.
Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter last month and faces up to 15 years in prison when she's sentenced April 9.
The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, pleaded guilty and is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. He carried out his rampage with a gun his father took him to buy on Black Friday, just days before the killings.
'There was an apparent shooting victim on the drawing'
Brett Brandon, a special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified he was at the Crumbleys' home when it was searched after the shooting. He testified two gun cases and a gun safe were found in the house. He said two .22-caliber guns were found in the gun safe, which was located in James and Jennifer Crumbley’s bedroom and had a combination lock set to 0-0-0. An empty gun case for the 9mm Sig Sauer used in the shooting was on top of the couple’s bed.
He also testified that an ATF pamphlet about the Youth Handgun Safety Act Notice was found in the Sig Sauer case.
The prosecution also showed the Instagram post the shooter made after his father purchased the 9mm on Nov. 26, 2021. “Just got my new beauty today,” he wrote with an emoji with heart eyes. “SIG SAUER 9mm. Ask any questions I will answer.” Jurors were also shown videos of the shooter firing guns at ranges, including a visit he made with his mother to a range on Nov. 27, 2021, to shoot the 9mm.
Both posted to Instagram about the outing. The shooter posted: “Took my new Sig out to the range today. Definitely need to get used to the new sites lol,” with a photo of a target. And Jennifer Crumbley posted: “Mom & son day testing out his new Xmas present. My first time shooting a 9mm I hit the bullseye,” with photos of a target and the gun.
Brandon also testified about the disconcerting drawing the shooter made on the math worksheet on the day of the shooting.
“The very first thing I noticed was that there was an apparent shooting victim on the drawing,” he testified. He also said the gun drawn on the worksheet had similarities to the 9mm used in the shooting and he believes “this was actually a drawing of the murder weapon.”
On cross-examination, Lehman asked the ATF agent if he knew how often James Crumbley reviewed gun safety rules with his son.
He said he did not.
She asked whether James Crumbley ever gave his son the combination of the gun safe, or if the shooter knew that combination.
He said he didn't know.
Lehman also questioned Brandon about whether he knew if James Crumbley had a cable lock on the 9mm at the time it was taken by his son. He testified, “Is it a certainty? No,” adding he thought it was “highly improbable.”
He said he “found no evidence that a cable lock was ever installed on that firearm.”
Lehman also asked the agent about the gun case, gun safe, two guns and ammunition found in James Crumbley's bedroom, and if there is any requirement that James Crumbley display any notice in his home stating he has an ATF youth safety pamphlet.
The agent said no.
On redirect from the prosecution, Oakland County Prosecutor asked the ATF agent if when James Crumbley told investigators that the gun was hidden in an armoire, "did he ever say locked?"
No, the agent answered.
Oxford High dean: No reason to search the student's backpack
Nicholas Ejak, dean of students at Oxford High School at the time of the shooting in 2021, testified his job at the school involved discipline and student code of conduct. He said that after seeing a math worksheet on which Ethan Crumbley made a disconcerting drawing on the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, his concerns were more of potential mental health issues, not that the issue required discipline. Ejak testified that he also had known about the teen looking at bullets on his phone in class a day earlier.
He testified that during a meeting with counselor Shawn Hopkins, the teen commented he had an interest in video games and graphic design, but after being asked about statements written on the worksheet, also talked about having felt sad lately.
During the subsequent meeting with the student and his parents, James Crumbley expressed concern for his son and reminded the teen he could always speak to him about issues and had a journal he could use to write his feelings, Ejak testified.
Ejak said that at one point, he went to retrieve the teen’s backpack from a classroom and brought it to the counselor’s office. He said that nothing that morning indicated he needed to search the backpack, saying he did not have reasonable suspicion.
Under questioning by the defense, Ejak agreed that he knew the shooter had been to a gun range with his mother the weekend before. He testified he had commented to a teacher that the shooter’s backpack was heavy as a joke because it seemed easier for the teacher to pick it up whereas his arm dropped when he grabbed it.
School counselor tells of meeting with student and parents
Hopkins, the counselor, testified that in November 2021 he had a caseload of about 400 students, including the teen who would become the shooter. Hopkins, who said he is on leave from the school district, testified about the multiple alerts he received from teachers about Ethan Crumbley in the months before the shooting.
Hopkins testified that in May 2021, a teacher emailed him the teen was “failing my class and tries to sleep ALL the time in class.” Hopkins said he never contacted James or Jennifer Crumbley about the teacher’s concern. Then in September 2021, he testified that a teacher emailed him to say the teen had written an autobiographical poem saying “he feels terrible and that his family is a mistake.” After talking to the teacher and getting more information, he determined no further follow-up was needed.
On Nov. 10, 2021, a teacher emailed Hopkins that the student was “having a rough time right now” and may need to speak with him, he testified. Hopkins said he checked in with the student briefly in the hallway to let him know he was available if he needed to talk. Hopkins said he didn’t contact James and Jennifer Crumbley.
On Nov. 29, 2021, a teacher alerted Hopkins that the teen was looking at bullets on his phone. Hopkins testified he met with the student and another school official left a voicemail for Jennifer Crumbley. The next day — the morning of the shooting — a teacher told Hopkins the teen was watching videos of a person gunning people down and, later, another teacher emailed him a photo of a math worksheet on which the shooter had drawn troubling images and written messages like, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
Hopkins testified he was concerned that the student, who told him a family member had recently died, the family dog had died and a friend had moved away, might harm himself.
“I just kept hearing all these themes of sadness,” he testified.
The parents were called to the school and Hopkins testified that, during the meeting, James Crumbley talked with his son about the math worksheet and told his son that he has people he can talk to, including his counselor. Hopkins testified he gave the teen’s parents information on resources to get their son help, that he wanted to see movement within 48 hours and he would be following up.
Hopkins said he didn’t want the student to be alone. He testified he asked the dean of students if anything needed to be done from a discipline standpoint and was told no, so he gave the student a pass, allowing him to return to class.
Counselor explains why he didn't consider the student a threat
During cross-examination of Hopkins, defense attorney Mariell Lehman made an assertion that has never been publicly made in either parents' case: that the school knew the shooter had access to a gun.
Lehman noted in her questioning of Hopkins that on the day before the shooting, when the shooter was caught researching bullets on his cellphone in class, he disclosed to the counselor and a social worker that he had recently been to a shooting range with his mom.
"You knew he had been to a gun range. You knew he had access to a gun at least four days before," Lehman said, adding: "You did not ask him if he had access to a firearm?"
Hopkins said he had no reason to ask him.
"It's easy to go on hindsight," said Hopkins, whose response echoed exactly what the defense has been arguing in this case — that it's one of hindsight.
Lehman then put Hopkins in the hot seat.
"We know what happened … it’s easy for us to look back and say different decisions could have been made," Lehman said as she grilled Hopkins about why he never asked the parents if their son had access to a gun.
"You don't have the benefit of hindsight, " Lehman said, referring to Hopkins' decisions that day, including his conclusion that it would be better for the shooter to remain in school that day, rather being alone at home.
Hopkins testified that the boy seemed sad and depressed, but that he had no reason to believe that he was a threat to himself or others.
Lehman pressed him on this. She asked him that after getting four emails from teachers expressing concerns about the shooter's behavior — he was watching a violent video, researching bullets, drawing a gun and words of desperation — he did not believe the boy was a threat to himself or others.
I did not, Hopkins answered.
On cross-examination, Hopkins also conceded that he had no reason to believe that the Crumbleys would not follow through on their promise to get their son help within 48 hours — as discussed during the meeting. He also testified that in his meeting with the shooter, the teenager never told him that he asked for help from his parents, and that they refused to give it to him.
On redirect examination, the prosecutor asked Hopkins if James Crumbley ever told him that he had purchased a gun for his son four days earlier.
"Did James Crumbley tell you that his son had been begging for a 9 millimeter?" Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast asked.
No, Hopkins answered.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
Contact Gina Kaufman: gkaufman@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @ReporterGina.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: James Crumbley trial, Day 3: Watch replay
