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Their son committed a Michigan school shooting. Now they're fighting manslaughter charges.

DETROIT–An appeals court on Tuesday grilled attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley, the first parents in America charged in a mass school shooting, about how the couple treated their son before he murdered four students and injured seven others in the November 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan.

The court focused on why they bought him a gun despite his mental health troubles and why they didn’t take him home after seeing his note that read: “The thoughts won’t stop, help me.”

“There were warning signs all over the place,” Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Christopher Yates said during a one-hour hearing.

The appeals court is trying to decide if the Crumbleys should stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges for the actions of their son, Ethan Crumbley, who pleaded guilty to murder charges last year.

Update: Parents of gunman to stand trial in Oxford school shooting, Michigan appeals court orders

Jennifer Crumbley, sat to the left of attorney Mariell Lehman as her husband, James Crumbley sat to the right in the Oakland County courtroom of Judge Cheryl Matthews on March 22, 2022, regarding pretrial matters.
Jennifer Crumbley, sat to the left of attorney Mariell Lehman as her husband, James Crumbley sat to the right in the Oakland County courtroom of Judge Cheryl Matthews on March 22, 2022, regarding pretrial matters.

Judges question Crumbley parents' choices

The Michigan Supreme Court last year ordered the appeals court to hear the case at the request of the Crumbleys, who have long maintained they had no idea their son would carry out a mass school shooting, and want the charges thrown out.

The court Tuesday appeared focused on the Crumbleys’ actions – and inactions – noting the parents had bought their son the gun that was used in the shooting, despite knowing he was struggling mentally and hallucinating months earlier.

Judges also questioned why the parents:

  • Didn’t bring their son home from school when they were summoned over a troubling drawing he had made in math class on the morning of the shooting

  • Didn’t hug him in the counselor’s office when they were called in over the violent drawing

  • Why they didn’t check his backpack that day

The prosecution argues that the key issue in this case is foreseeability, that the Crumbleys knew their son had access to a gun and was struggling mentally. And that the parents, more than anyone else, could have prevented the massacre had the parents taken their son home, or at least told the school that he had access to a gun.

But they failed to do so, and should therefore be held criminally responsible, the prosecutor argued.

Oxford High School shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley pleads guilty for his role in the school shooting that occurred on November 30, 2021, during a his appearance at the Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac on Monday, October 24, 2022.
Oxford High School shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley pleads guilty for his role in the school shooting that occurred on November 30, 2021, during a his appearance at the Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac on Monday, October 24, 2022.

Dad 'told him to take some pills and suck it up'

"These parents knew he had reported hallucinations... (and) had asked to go to the doctor,Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Shada argued. "They did nothing.”

Instead, Shada stressed, his dad “told him to take some pills and suck it up” while his mom laughed at him. Months later, he said, they bought him what he wanted more than anything else.

“Instead of getting him help, they bought him a gun,” Shada said. “They knew he was fascinated with guns … he had targets on his bedroom wall.”

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Parents weren't involved in the planning, defense lawyer argues

Lawyers for the Crumbleys argue the prosecution is overreaching in trying to hold the parents responsible for their son’s actions.

“I will concede that these parents made tremendously bad decisions ... but criminal trials are not based on whether parents made the right decisions or did the right things,” defense attorney Shannon Smith argued, stressing the case will set a dangerous precedent for parents everywhere if allowed to proceed.

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Defense attorney Shannon Smith cross-examines Amanda Holland at a hearing for James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of Ethan Crumbley who are accused of the deadly school shooting at Oxford High School in late November, sit in the courtroom of Judge Julie Nicholson of 52/3 District Court in Rochester Hills on Feb. 8, 2022. The couple is facing involuntary manslaughter charges for allegedly buying the gun that the police say their son used in the shooting that killed four students and injured six other students and a teacher.

But the liability in this case rests with the son, not the parents, Smith argued.

“The thing they did not do is plot this murder, hold the gun and shoot the kids,” said Smith, who also noted that Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to all charges.

“We have a person who put together this plan,” Smith said.

But that’s not what’s being charged here, Smith noted, later noting the facts of this case align more with a case involving the termination of parental rights.

Concerns about precedent of charging parents

“At the end of the day, it truly wasn’t foreseeable that (Ethan) was going to take this gun and shoot people," Smith said. "If they did foresee their child doing that, there would be so many things done.”

At issue in this case is whether the Crumbleys acted with gross negligence, and whether they had a legal duty to inform the school that their son had access to a gun.

The defense argues no such legal duty exists, and that holding the parents criminally responsible for the actions of their son sets a dangerous precedent, in that parents could be charged for any crime carried out by their child.

“We can’t set precedent? Is that what you're saying?” Judge Michael Riordan asked.

The defense answered no, but argued that the facts of this case do not warrant setting a precedent.

“Don’t parents have a legal duty for the welfare of their children?” one judge asked.

Smith responded: “Yes, but that doesn’t extend to every action that they encounter.”

Families of victims want parents tried

Parents of some of Oxford High student victims were at a news conference with attorney Ven Johnson and said James and Jennifer Crumbley should be among those held accountable.

"Hell, yeah," said Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre, who was killed. "They bought a gun for their kid, right? And he used it to murder our kids. Absolutely."

"It's crazy. Think about this, there's all this going on and all this legal talk. Four kids were murdered, and everybody gets to throw their hands up in the air."

The Court of Appeals will issue its decision at a later date.

Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com Christina Hall contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oxford High School shooter's parents appear in court: Five takeaways