In closing arguments Wednesday in the James Crumbley trial, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the school shooter’s father “had a willful disregard of known danger” that caused the four teens’ deaths, and as a parent had a legal duty to “use ordinary care” that would’ve prevented the murders — but failed to do so.
The 47-year-old father of Ethan Crumbley should have been more forthcoming at a school meeting a couple hours before the murderous rampage, letting school officials know about the recently-purchased handgun which his son sketched on a math worksheet — along with a drawing of a shooting victim and the words “help me,” “blood everywhere,” “the voices won’t stop” and other disturbing phrases, McDonald said. He could’ve stopped home soon after the school meeting to check on his firearms rather than wait until after he heard about the shootings — subsequently finding the handgun and ammunition missing, then calling 911, she said.
Further, McDonald said, James Crumbley heading home to check on the firearm is a clear indication that he suspected his son was the school shooter.
“You know what that’s called? That’s called foreseeability,” McDonald said.
James Crumbley is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, Justin Shilling, 17, and Hana St. Juliana, 14, fatally shot by his son on Nov. 30, 2021. Jennifer Crumbley — James Crumbley’s wife and Ethan Crumbley’s mother — was convicted of the same four charges last month and is awaiting sentencing.
Continuing her closing argument, McDonald reminded the jury about text messages Ethan Crumbley sent to his only friend, stating that he’s having mental health issues but his parents won’t help him, and videos of him handling loaded firearms at his home — purportedly unsupervised at the time. The shooter’s journal entries, in which he writes about obtaining the 9mm and his plans to “shoot up the f**king school” because of his “mental problems” also show that he’d been suffering but not getting the help he needed, McDonald said.
And it’s important to note that, once he learned his son was the school shooter, James Crumbley never asked police how his son could’ve gotten his hands on the firearm, she added. He never claimed that it had been locked up and inaccessible, and “never express(ed) any surprise that his son got a hold of it,” McDonald said.
It all shows liability — and supports the charges, she said.
“James Crumbley failed his son in a tragic way…but he didn’t just fail his son. He failed Hana, He failed Madisyn, he failed Tate and he failed Justin,” McDonald said.
She also told the jury that their job is “to follow the law” and use common sense – which is bound to lead to a guilty verdict.
‘Assumption and hindsight’
In defense of James Crumbley, attorney Mariell Lehman acknowledged the tragedy of the mass shooting — but told the jury the case is “not about what happened inside of Oxford High School.”
“This case is about what happened outside of Oxford High School,” she said. “This case is about what James Crumbley knew on or before Nov. 30, 2021.”
The charges against him are “based on assumption and hindsight…(with) the prosecution asking you to second-guess decisions James Crumbley made,” Lehman said.
Throughout the trial, no evidence or testimony was presented to show James Crumbley had any knowledge his son was a danger to anyone or that he had to protect others from him or that he knew what he’d been planning at the school, she said. And there was no evidence or testimony presented that his son knew where the guns were hidden or how he obtained unsupervised access…because, Lehman said, “James Crumbley didn’t know.”
If prosecutors had such evidence, “you would have heard it,” Lehman said.
“Still, the prosecution wants you to think James should have foreseen it,” she said.
Lehman also told the jury James Crumbley had no idea his son was having issues or a “hard time” prior to the shooting. At the school meeting — two hours before Ethan Crumbley opened fire — James Crumbley presented himself as a caring father; the school counselor and dean of students testified that they were concerned about the teen’s sadness and its effects, and never said making an appointment with a therapist had to happen immediately, Lehman said.
Further, there was no evidence presented to prove that the teen had asked any adult for help with mental health problems, she said.
Lehman said there’s reasonable doubt all over the prosecution’s allegations.
“No one who interacted with James Crumbley’s son on Nov. 30, 2021 knew what was going to happen a short time later — no one,” she said. “I’m confident that if you follow the law, each of you will have at least one reasonable doubt.”
Jury deliberations continue Thursday morning.
