Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, has announced that she will testify in her own defense as her manslaughter trial begins. The trial is a rare case of parents being charged in connection to a child’s mass shooting. Jennifer Crumbley is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the November 2021 shooting that left four students dead and seven others injured. Her husband, James Crumbley, who is also facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter, will have a separate trial beginning in March.
The prosecution began with opening statements, arguing that the Crumbleys did not secure the firearm used in the shooting in a way that would have prevented their son from accessing it. They also claimed that Jennifer Crumbley had the opportunity to prevent the shooting on the day it happened but did not take action. The prosecution presented evidence that days before the shooting, a teacher had seen Ethan Crumbley researching ammunition in class and contacted his parents, but they did not respond. Jennifer Crumbley had allegedly texted her son, saying, “lol, I’m not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught.” Hours before the shooting, a teacher reportedly saw a note on Ethan Crumbley’s desk with drawings of a handgun and disturbing messages.
The defense argued in their opening statements that Jennifer Crumbley had no way of knowing what was going to happen and that she had no prior knowledge about guns. They claimed that the school did not inform Jennifer Crumbley of her son’s issues and that she did not take him home on the morning of the shooting because he wanted to stay at school and the school allowed him to remain in class.
During the trial, two educators from Oxford High School, where the shooting took place, testified as witnesses. Molly Darnell, who was shot through her left arm, described locking eyes with Ethan Crumbley before he fired at her. She made a makeshift tourniquet from her cardigan to control the bleeding. Another witness, Kristy Marshall, the assistant principal at the time of the shooting, encountered the shooter in the hallway and recognized him from his time at the elementary school.
The prosecution played surveillance video from inside Oxford High School during the shooting, which was reportedly very upsetting. Jennifer Crumbley and her attorney, Shannon Smith, started crying, leading to objections from the prosecution.
Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting, has already been sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to multiple charges. He admitted in court that he had asked his father to buy him a specific gun and confirmed that the gun was not stored in a locked safe.
As Jennifer Crumbley prepares to testify in her own defense, the trial will continue to unfold, shedding light on the roles and responsibilities of parents in preventing such tragic events. The outcome of this trial will have significant implications for future cases involving parents’ accountability in mass shootings committed by their children.
