Why was Ethan Crumbley allowed to stay in school despite mental health concerns from an Oxford High counselor and administrator not long before the teen opened fire in the hallways there — and why did the administrator return the backpack to him containing the gun used in the mass shooting without checking what was inside even after purportedly finding it to be heavy?
Those are among the questions asked and answered Tuesday morning in Oakland County Circuit Court as the fourth day of testimony got underway in the trial of Ethan Crumbley’s mother, Jennifer Crumbley, who faces involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the four murders her son committed on Nov. 30, 2021.
The prosecution’s case hinges on allegations that Jennifer Crumbley, along with her husband, James Crumbley, were “grossly negligent” and thus liable for the murders because they provided their son access to the gun used in the shootings and didn’t properly address his mental health needs. Ethan Crumbley is serving a sentence of life in prison, and James Crumbley’s trial is scheduled for March.
Taking the stand as the day’s first witness, Oxford High School’s former dean of students Nicholas Ejak told the jury about the meeting he had that morning with Ethan Crumbley, his parents and school counselor Shawn Hopkins — prompted by violent drawings and phrases, along with cries for help, found on the teen’s math worksheet a short time earlier. He also had been seen watching a “violent” video in class.
A day earlier, a teacher caught Ethan Crumbley searching the internet for bullets and was spoken to about it.
Corroborating Hopkins’ testimony from Monday, Ejak told the court that he found no disciplinary reason to suspend Ethan Crumbley, though there were shared concerns over his mental health. At the meeting, the Crumbley parents were told to get mental health therapy for their son right away, preferably that day, but they declined to take him home. Jennifer Crumbley said she had to return to work, Ejak told the court. Ethan Crumbley noted that he’d have to walk home and, since he’d be there alone, it was decided the safer bet was to keep the teen in school that day.
Ejak also testified that before the Crumbley parents had arrived for the meeting — called to the school that morning — he retrieved Ethan Crumbley’s backpack from the classroom where he had left it after being summoned to Ejak’s office. Ejak was unaware that inside the backpack was the Sig Sauer handgun the teen would use a short time later to kill four students and shoot seven others.
Ejak said he didn’t look inside the backpack because there “was no reasonable suspicion to search the backpack as required by law.” Such suspicion, he said, could’ve been raised if the teen showed “nervous behavior” when others were near the backpack.
“None of that was present,” Ejak said.
On cross examination, however, attorney Shannon Smith asked Ejak about his reaction when he went to the classroom where Ethan Crumbley had left the backpack and the teacher handed it to him. Hadn’t he commented that it was unusually heavy?
Ejak denied doing so, testifying that when he was given the backpack his arm dropped — but the comment he made to the teacher was more of “a joke about how strong (the teacher) was.”
As indicated by Ejak’s testimony, the teen’s behavior gave no hint as to the slaughter he was about to carry out. Ejak also testified that there was no indication that Ethan Crumbley posed a threat to the school that morning. Further, he said, he anticipated Jennifer Crumbley would be following up with the mental health care recommendations.
“I believed Jennifer Crumbley was going to get help within 48 hours,” Ejak said.
The prosecution has noted that the Crumbley parents never disclosed at the school meeting that their son may have access to firearms. Yet Ejak agreed that question didn’t come up — despite many in the Oxford community, including students, sharing a pastime for hunting.
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