ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (CN) — The parents of Ethan Crumbley, the 15-year-old sophomore accused of killing four and injuring several others in a shooting spree at his Michigan high school, were denied a lower bond Friday, after their son appeared earlier in the same courthouse before a different judge to waive his preliminary hearing.
James and Jennifer Crumbley each face four counts of involuntary manslaughter for their alleged role in the Nov. 30 massacre. Through their court-appointed lawyers, the pair sought to lower their bonds from $500,000 to $100,000.
At Friday afternoon's Zoom hearing, defense attorney Shannon Smith argued prosecutors included several irrelevant statements in their filings, including a disclosure that Jennifer engaged in an extramarital affair solely to create a conflict between the couple.
The lower bond amount was a no-go for Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald, who detailed why it should remain the same.
McDonald said James was a delivery driver and Jennifer was fired from her job when the news of the shooting first broke, and they had few local ties in the area. The couple put their home up for sale and their relatives are in Florida trying to sell their horses to raise money, the prosecutor said.
McDonald went through a list of damning actions he said proved the parents were a flight risk.
“We need to talk about…what Jennifer and James Crumbley did on Nov. 30 just hours after their son murdered children in a school,” she said. "They started making plans…they drove to Lapeer and stayed in a hotel…they also purchased a total of four cellphones…they drained their son’s bank account, transferring $3,000 into their own account leaving him with a balance of $0.99.”
McDonald said the couple then fled to a hotel in Oakland County, where they abandoned one of their vehicles and took out an additional $2,000 from their bank account because they expected to be charged.
The couple then allegedly contacted artist Andrzej Sikora and hid in his building in Detroit. McDonald said they told Sikora they were about to be charged and needed provisions like vodka and orange juice.
McDonald said when police arrived at the location and announced themselves, the couple remained in hiding behind a locked door under a mattress. When they were taken into custody, they had more than a dozen credit and gift cards on them, four cellphones and $6,600 in cash.
“Your honor, these are not the actions of individuals who wanted to turn themselves in,” she concluded.
The Crumbleys shook their heads numerous times in frustration as McDonald spoke, but Oakland County District Court Judge Julie H. Nicholson agreed with the prosecutor in denying the requests for lower bonds.
“After the charges were filed, the defendants did not voluntarily turn themselves in. Instead they were found in an abandoned building in the city of Detroit…they withdrew a substantial amount of money...and they were not answering attorney’s calls,” Nicholson said.
The judge added, “The court finds that the bond as set is reasonable.”
At the couple's initial hearing in December, McDonald said there was a “staggering amount of evidence” that needed to be examined and more time would be required for both sides to prepare. She told the judge she anticipated she would be ready to proceed in February.
Ethan Crumbley faced a judge earlier Friday at a probable cause hearing. He has been charged as an adult with terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The teen agreed to waive his right to a preliminary examination hearing, where evidence is presented, meaning he will be bound over to the Oakland County Circuit Court for trial as charged.
A bond hearing will be held in two weeks as well as a separate hearing to readdress if his continued confinement in the adult section of the Oakland County Detention Center is warranted.
McDonald claims James purchased the gun used in the shooting - a 9mm Sig Sauer SP 2022 pistol - at ACME Shooting Goods in Oxford on Nov. 3 and Ethan was with him. Jennifer allegedly posted about the purchase on social media the next day when they tried the firearm out.
“Mom and son day, testing out his new Christmas present,” she wrote, according to McDonald.
Three students were pronounced dead the day of the Oxford High School shooting and a fourth victim succumbed to his injuries the next morning. Eight others were injured, including a teacher.
A 17-year-old student who suffered a gunshot wound to the neck in the shooting filed a $100 million federal lawsuit in late December claiming Oxford school officials could have done more to prevent the tragedy.
Oxford, population 3,586, is in central Oakland County, about 40 miles north of Detroit.
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