Texts: Jennifer Crumbley joked with son about telling school he got a new gun

Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press
·3 min read

The Crumbleys never told school officials that they had bought their son a gun, prosecutors say.

But the mother did jokingly ask her son if he told the school about his new toy when he got busted searching for ammo on his cellphone in class, according to text messages disclosed in court Tuesday.

"Did you at least show them a picture of your new gun?” Jennifer Crumbley texted her son after learning the news of him getting in trouble at school.

"No, I didn’t show them the pic. My god," he texted back. "I only told them I went to the range with you on Saturday. ... I guess the teachers can’t keep their eyes off my screen."

The text message string between the mother and son came after a voicemail was left on the Crumbleys' answering machine. It was school officials notifying the parents that Ethan Crumbley was seen researching ammunition on his cellphone while in class.

"Seriously?? Looking up bullets at school?" Jennifer Crumbley wrote in a Nov. 29 text message she sent her son.

That was one day before the massacre.

More: Listen to James Crumbley's call to police reporting his missing gun after Oxford shootings

More: Witness: Jennifer Crumbley 'felt like a failure' as a mom

Ethan Crumbley wrote back that he was only "curious," that he had a bullet cartridge in his room so decided to look up the bullets during first hour, and that the school told him he's "all good." He also told his mom that he wanted to listen to the voicemail the school left at his house.

Jennifer Crumbley told him she would save the message, and assured him he wasn't in trouble.

"LOL I’m not mad," Jennifer Crumbley texted her son. "You have to learn how to not get caught."

James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of Ethan Crumbley who is accused of the deadly school shooting at Oxford High School in late November, sit in the courtroom of Judge Julie Nicholson of 52/3 Circuit Court in Rochester Hills on Feb. 8, 2022.
James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of Ethan Crumbley who is accused of the deadly school shooting at Oxford High School in late November, sit in the courtroom of Judge Julie Nicholson of 52/3 Circuit Court in Rochester Hills on Feb. 8, 2022.

The messages were part of a daylong preliminary exam during which a judge will decide whether there's enough evidence to order Jennifer and James Crumbley to stand trial.

The Crumbleys are charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly buying their son the gun that police say was used in the Nov. 30 mass shooting that killed four students: Madisyn Baldwin, Justin Shilling, Hana St. Juliana and Tate Myre. Six other students and a teacher were injured.

Jennifer Crumbley writes notes to her attorney as she and her husband James Crumbley sit in the courtroom of Judge Julie Nicholson of 52/3 Circuit Court in Rochester Hills on Feb. 8, 2022.
Jennifer Crumbley writes notes to her attorney as she and her husband James Crumbley sit in the courtroom of Judge Julie Nicholson of 52/3 Circuit Court in Rochester Hills on Feb. 8, 2022.

Ethan Crumbley is charged with terrorism and first-degree murder for his alleged acts that could send him to prison for life if convicted. His lawyers have said they are planning an insanity defense.

Five witnesses have testified at the preliminary hearing so far, including a horse farm owner who said Jennifer Crumbley expressed concern to her that her son was "weird" for not having any friends — except for one who moved away — and for playing on the Internet or video games most of the time. Her boss and a colleague also testified that she expressed concern that she had failed her son as a mother, though her colleague noted that she felt the comment was "sarcastic."

Testimony continues.

Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Texts: Jennifer Crumbley joked with son about getting busted at school