PONTIAC, Mich. (CN) — The trial for the father of the Oxford, Michigan, school shooter started Thursday morning following a separate trial where his wife was found guilty of identical charges.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in December 2021 after they gifted their son a gun. He later used it in a shooting rampage that left four students dead at Oxford High School.
In his opening statement, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mark Keast said the tragedy was something that did not have to happen and that James Crumbley could have stopped it.
“He was the adult … in the best position … to prevent these events,” he said.
"What happened in that high school was truly a nightmare come to life," Keast added. "What happened was foreseeable.”
Keast called attention to a gun lock that was purchased with the firearm in question. He noted it was never used and was still in its original packaging.
“He failed to secure that gun in a way to prevent his son from accessing it,” Keast said.
Keast told the jury that James Crumbley was emotionally close enough to his son to pick up on his feelings and that he should have known his son was mentally fragile when his best friend moved away without warning.
“He knew that his son was in the midst of total and complete social isolation and headed in a downward spiral of distress that had been going on for some time,” he said. “The impact on the defendant’s son was severe.”
Though Crumbley did have a job, Keast stressed he worked as a DoorDash delivery driver who could set his own schedule and was therefore often home and around his depressed son leading up to the shooting.
“It also gives you a glimpse of the level of knowledge possessed by James Crumbley when he made that decision to buy that ... handgun for his son,” Keast said.
Keast said James Crumbley and his wife were shown disturbing drawings by school officials that should have raised serious questions. He said they both quickly realized the situation was serious but kept it quiet.
“They expressed their concern about that drawing to themselves in Facebook messages,” Keast said.
When Jennifer sent a copy of the drawings to James in a message, he was aghast but quickly moved on to other topics.
“My God, WTF,” James Crumbley wrote in response. At the time, he was at the stable that housed their horses.
“Still waiting on a vet,” Crumbley added.
“You see, James and Jennifer Crumbley spent quite a bit of time away from the home tending to their horses," Keast said. "That’s what he was doing the morning of the shooting."
Keast accused the couple of concealing their concerns about the shooter’s behavior and refusing to take any action to treat their son.
“This case isn’t about bad parenting,” Keast cautioned. “It’s not illegal to be a bad parent.”
Regardless, Crumbley should have had reasonable suspicion that something bad could happen, Keast asserted.
He closed by reminding the jurors that both James and Jennifer Crumbley tried to run away when they realized they would be charged for their role in the shooting.
Defense attorney Mariell Lehman took much less time than Keast did in her opening statement. She stressed that Crumbley did not know how bad the situation with his son had become and that it was false that he did not act.
Lehman said Crumbley had no clue what was about to happen. His routine actions, like going to work for food deliveries following a meeting at the school, were rooted in a belief that everything would be fine.
Oxford teacher and gunshot victim Molly Darnell was the first to take the stand.
Darnell has testified in previous hearings. On Thursday, she again recounted her experience from the shooting.
Darnell said she was in her office when students began running by her door hurriedly. I "never saw a group of students move like that before,” she told the jury.
She then said she heard three sounds: an announcement over the PA that said the school was in lockdown, a series of three popping noises and finally several doors slamming shut at the same time.
Darnell spoke about coming face to face with the shooter. “I see someone in dark baggy clothes, a hoodie and a mask,” she testified.
She said she locked eyes with him as he raised his arm. She said she jumped away when she realized he was holding a gun. By then, it was too late.
At first, Darnell did not realize she had been shot in the shoulder. She eventually barricaded herself in her room, using her cardigan sweater as a tourniquet until help could arrive.
Even then, Darnell said she had trouble trusting that the people coming to help her were safe.
Edward Wagrowski, a former detective with the Computer Crimes Unit at the Oakland County Sheriff's Office and an expert in cellphone forensics, was next to take the stand.
He testified about his response on the day of the shooting. He broke down repeatedly as he recalled getting the news, then speeding to Oxford. There were other patrol cars behind him. At one point, he recalled, there were more than 16.
When he arrived at a staging area at a nearby Meijer grocery store, Wagrowski said the scene was tough to stomach.
“You saw these kids coming from where the school was," he said. "They looked like zombies."
Wagrowski struggled as he testified about reviewing video footage from the school. He described the shooter coming out of the bathroom with his gun.
I'll “never forget it," Wagrowski said, his voice quivering. "He came out of that bathroom with a proud chest."
He described the moment when the shooter killed Madisyn Baldwin. She was crouched in a fetal position out of fear.
“He put the gun right on her head," Wagrowski said. "She just fell over."
Wagrowski continued his testimony well into the afternoon, confirming the validity of several text messages, pictures and video clips entered into the record.
Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty by a jury in February — the first parent of a school shooter to be held criminally liable for their child's actions. Her son Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December.
The trial continues Friday with further testimony and is expected to last about two weeks.
Oxford is a suburb located about 30 miles north of Detroit.
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