Midwest

Trial for Michigan school shooter's mother: Revelations from testimony, evidence in historic case

Published

2 years ago

February 3, 2024

Trial for Michigan school shooter's mother: Revelations from testimony, evidence in historic case

Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, gave hours of testimony this week in her criminal trial related to the mass shooting her son committed in 2021.

Jennifer Crumbley and her husband, James Crumbley, who is being tried separately, are each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in Ethan Crubley’s killing of four students — Tate Myre, 16, Justin Shilling, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17 — at Oxford High Nov. 30, 2021.

“As a parent, you spend your whole life trying to protect your child from other dangers,” Jennifer Crumbley said on the witness stand Thursday while answering questions from the defense. “You never would think you’d have to protect your child from harming someone else. That’s what blew my mind. That was the hardest thing I had to stomach is that my child harmed and killed other people.”

She stopped short of calling herself a victim, saying the true victims in the case are the families of the deceased, but she added that she has lost “a lot” as a result of the shooting and her son’s actions. Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shootings, pleaded guilty to his crimes last year and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER ETHAN CRUMBLEY’S FATHER CALLS HIM ‘PERFECT KID’ IN INTERVIEW WITH POLICE

Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Michigan school shooter, took the stand Thursday in her trial for involuntary manslaughter after the jury heard the teenager blamed his parents, including his father, James Crumbley, for not getting him help before the 2021 attack that killed four students. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

“Of course, I look back after all this happened, and I have asked myself if I would have done anything differently. I wouldn’t have.” Jennifer said.

“I wish he would have killed us instead.”
— Jennifer Crumbley

Jennifer and her husband are accused of illegally purchasing a gun for their 15-year-old son, which he used in the school shooting. They are also accused of ignoring his pleas for help, and prosecutors have presented text messages and emails from Jennifer Crumbley in court to prove she did not take her son’s complaints seriously.

Ethan Robert Crumbley, left, was charged with first-degree murder in a high school shooting. His parents were also charged after the shooting. (Oakland County Sheriff)

James and Jennifer are the first parents to be charged in a school shooting.

MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER’S MOTHER JENNIFER CRUMBLEY CALLED SON AN ‘OOPSIE BABY,’ WITNESS SAYS

“There were a couple of times when Ethan expressed anxiety over taking tests,” she testified Thursday. “Anxiety about what he was going to do after high school. College? Military? But not at the level where I felt he needed to see a psychiatrist or a mental health professional.”

Jennifer Crumbley is being tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the four students killed by her son, Ethan Crumbley, in 2021. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

Jennifer broke down Thursday while watching a video of the shooting played in court.

She also answered questions from the state on Friday. Prosecutors suggested she could have stopped the shooting before it happened when she arrived at Oxford High on the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, to meet with school counselors after Ethan was caught scrawling disturbing notes in class.

MICHIGAN MOM ON TRIAL FOR SON’S DEADLY SHOOTING MASSACRE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT PARENT CULPABILITY IN SHOOTINGS

His notes included an image of a gun and the phrases “Help me,” “Blood everywhere” and “My life is useless,” along with a drawing of a gun.

James and Jennifer Crumbley met with their son and school leaders the morning of the shooting after a teacher caught Ethan Crumbley drawing disturbing images in class. (Oakland County)

“You could have been with him,” Oakland County assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said Friday.

OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTER’S MOTHER ASKS TO DISMISS 3 WITNESSES, ‘GRUESOME’ EVIDENCE THAT COULD ANGER JURY

“I could have, yes,” Jennifer Crumbley testified.

Jennifer Crumbley, 45, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 30, 2021, attack on Oxford High School in Michigan. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

“And you didn’t,” Keast said.

Instead of taking their son home, prosecutors alleged, Jennifer and her husband left him at school and went about their day. Ethan later took a gun from his backpack and shot a total of 11 people, four of whom died.

MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER ETHAN CRUMBLEY SENTENCED TO LIFE AFTER ADDRESSING COURT: ‘I AM A REALLY BAD PERSON’

Prosecutors also said Ethan Crumbley made a 19-minute video the day before the shooting describing what he was going to do in school the next day.

Video showing Jennifer Crumbley, left, with her son Ethan Crumbley at a gun range Nov. 27, 2021, for target practice, was shown in the courtroom during Jennifer Crumbley’s trial Jan. 25, 2024, in Pontiac, Mich. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

After the shooting, the Crumbleys allegedly fled Oxford and went to Detroit following some initial questioning from police. U.S. Marshals eventually apprehended them days later, on Dec. 4, 2021.

“The minute this shooting became public and ended up in the paper, in the media, Jennifer Crumbley started telling a story, and then she ran. And she didn’t run just because she was selfish. … She ran, and she started deleting text messages, and she started telling a different story because she knew she did something wrong,” Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said in her closing statements Friday.

“She wants you to believe she’s somebody she’s not.”
— Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald

Detectives who did a general sweep of the Crumbleys’ home in Oxford prior to obtaining search warrants testified in Jennifer’s case on Wednesday. Photos presented of the home in court showed a disheveled home before authorities conducted a search. The detective said the home was likely in its normal state when they conducted the initial sweep.

Texts are shown from Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Ethan Crumbley, a teenager accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, to a co-worker as Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald speaks in court. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Photos showed shooting range targets with bullet holes hung up in Ethan’s messy bedroom. A second bedroom, which was also apparently the shooter’s room, also appeared messy, with items on the floor and on his bed.

ETHAN CRUMBLEY DETAILED PLAN TO ‘STALK, RAPE, TORTURE’ AND ‘KILL’ FEMALE CLASSMATE, PROSECUTORS SAY

Authorities found a gun safe on a shelf in James and Jennifer Crumbley’s bedroom. The safe had two guns inside.

Inside Ethan Crumbley’s room, police found spent shell casings on a nightstand on the day of the shooting. They also found an empty bottle of whiskey beside his bed and knives on a shelving unit.

Jennifer Crumbley testified that her husband was generally in charge of keeping the family’s guns stored and secured inside their home.

Jennifer’s defense attorney, Paulette Loftin, argued that the prosecution “cherry-picked evidence” to accuse Jennifer of involuntary manslaughter.

“It’s obvious real life is messy and complicated. And during this trial, I will openly admit that I’m a lawyer who messes up. … I am a human being, and so is Mrs. Crumbley, and that’s what this case is about. She’s not a perfect person or a perfect parent,” Loftin said in her closing statements

Loftin added that the shooting “was clearly not foreseeable to Mrs. Crumbley.”

Audrey Conklin is a digital reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business. Email tips to audrey.conklin@fox.com or on Twitter at @audpants.

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Cleveland, OH

If You Could Put Any Cleveland Baseball Player from the Past on the 2026 Team, Who Would it Be?

Published

5 minutes ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

If You Could Put Any Cleveland Baseball Player from the Past on the 2026 Team, Who Would it Be?

We are beginning to see the 2026 roster shape up – now it’s time to get your time machines out.

What Cleveland baseball player from the past would make the biggest impact on the 2026 Cleveland Guardians?

Is it 2017 Francisco Lindor anchoring the team from the shortstop position? Or 1948 Lou Boudreau?

Is it 2002 Jim Thome or 2006 Travis Hafner providing thump in the middle of the lineup? Maybe 1953 Al Rosen gets to DH and spell Jose at third?

Is it 2014 Michael Brantely in right field? 1994 Kenny Lofton in center? 2006 Grady Sizemore in center? 1920 Tris Speaker in center?

1995 Albert Belle providing a shock to the system in left?

Or do you want an ace – maybe 2017 Corey Kluber, 1946 Bob Feller, 2008 CC Sabathia, 1969 Sam McDowell, 1972 Gaylord Perry, 2008 Cliff Lee or 1968 Luis Tiant?

Let us know your choice in the comments below!

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Illinois

Takeaways: Michigan basketball ends Illinois streak, wins Big Ten

Published

1 hour ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Takeaways: Michigan basketball ends Illinois streak, wins Big Ten

Michigan basketball entered Friday having lost nine straight games to Illinois. With the sole regular-season matchup coming in Champaign against the KenPom No. 4 Illini, it was going to be a tall task for the Wolverines to end that streak.

The game matched up the nation’s No. 2 defense against the No. 1 offense, and in front of a raucous Orange Krush, the maize and blue took a little while to get into an offensive rhythm. Because the No. 5 offense is no slouch, especially against the No. 31 defense. What’s more, Morez Johnson Jr. returned to Champaign after spending his first year with Illinois.

However, the Illini certainly showed how much Michigan appears to be their rival, and really played a physical brand of basketball. After Illinois got a five-point lead, the Wolverines bounced back and got a six-point lead. Illinois had a slight advantage in the first half on the boards, but the Wolverines had a field goal advantage. Both teams were relatively even on turnovers.

Ultimately, Michigan ended up taking a seven-point lead into the locker room at halftime, but backup point guard LJ Cason appeared to have hurt his knee on the final score of the half.

The second half started with a Michigan layup and an Illinois 3. The next round of scoring went exactly the same way. But then Yaxel Lendeborg hit a 3 to stop the asymmetry. They traded baskets, but then after a few Illinois turnovers, the Wolverines pushed the lead to 10.

Cason returned to the game after the under-16 media timeout, providing (temporary) good news for the maize and blue (he would leave the game again shortly). But the Wolverines missed a few shots, and Illinois took advantage, getting a shot from the field by Mirkovic before Wagler hit a 3 to cut the lead to five, prompting a Michigan timeout with 13:09 remaining.

Illinois cut Michigan’s lead back down to six, but Yaxel Lendeborg stretched it back to nine with a layup-and-one. Then Aday Mara started taking over.

Mara was unguardable, scoring floaters, dunks, and putbacks. His quick 7 points put the Wolverines up to a game-high of 14 with 9:13 remaining. The Illini answered to end the nearly three-minute field goal drought, ending Michigan’s 7-0 scoring run. But the Wolverine defense held, and Trey McKenney finally hit his first (of three) 3-point attempts to push the lead to 15, and he hit again on the next trip, pushing the lead to 18 with 7:34 left in the game. It was a 13-2 scoring run for the maize and blue.

After an Illinois timeout, they missed again, and Will Tschetter got in on the contagious, 3-pointer action, pushing the lead to 21. Cadeau finally broke the makes from deep, and Wagler hit to cut the lead back to 18 with 5:41 remaining.

Illinois couldn’t mount a comeback, and Michigan won, 84-70. Here are our five takeaways.

Homecoming for Morez Johnson Jr.

An Illinois native who spent his first year with the Illini, the Orange Krush did as much as it could to make it uncomfortable for the outgoing transfer. However, it wasn’t the case, as Johnson was often the best player on the floor.

He was the only Michigan basketball player in double digits at halftime, with 13 points, five rebounds, and a steal, and he was something of an energizer bunny out on the floor for the Wolverines. There were no qualms for Johnson returning to his old stomping ground, as he played one of his best games in a maize and blue uniform.

Johnson was quiet in the second half, but the damage was done, and it makes his former teammate’s pregame comments more prescient:

What could have been.

Johnson finished with a double-double, scoring 19 points and netting 11 rebounds.

Michigan’s offense outplays Illinois’ offense

As noted, the Illini entered the game with the No. 1 overall offense, while the Wolverines were No. 5. Yet, when the rubber hit the road, it was the maize and blue who had the superior offensive attack, managing to shoot 52.5% overall and 60% in the second half. Illinois managed 41.3% and 43.3% respectively.

The Michigan defense forced Illinois to go through a series of uncomfortable stretches in the second half, with multiple three-minute droughts from the floor. And Illinois, which is accustomed to getting to the foul line, couldn’t seem to draw many fouls until relatively late in the game. Even when the Illini forced three Wolverine turnovers late, they couldn’t seem to take advantage.

Ultimately, Michigan was dominant on both ends of the floor.

Bench, fastbreak, and points in the paint

The Wolverines dominated all three categories, finishing the game with 20 bench points, 10 fastbreak points, and 42 points in the paint. We already discussed Johnson and his homecoming, but we cannot leave out Aday Mara, who was just such a mismatch for Michigan vs. the Illini. As noted, Mara really flexed late in the game, taking it over. He was the catalyst for most of these stats.

Meanwhile, Illinois only had 7 bench points, 1 fastbreak point, and was just behind Michigan with 32 points in the paint.

The streak was emphatically broken

As we said in the open, the Illini had beaten the Wolverines nine straight times. Even the Fab Five couldn’t beat Illinois in Champaign, as the maize and blue have historically struggled at State Farm Arena. Though it took some time for the Wolverines to flex, flex they did, and this was as emphatic of a win as Michigan had all season.

The final score may have been just a 14-point gulf, but honestly, the game wasn’t really that close (and it hadn’t been for most of the final 10 minutes). This was a huge win for the Wolverines, one that’s been years in the making. If not decades.

With the win over Illinois, Michigan has won the outright Big Ten regular-season title.

No. 1 overall seed back in the realm of possibility

It may come down to the Big Ten Tournament now that Michigan has lost the head-to-head with Duke. And the Blue Devils’ 54-point win over Notre Dame pushed them into the No. 1 NET ranking, stealing it away from the maize and blue. But with a win over the No. 4 NET-ranked Illini, the Wolverines have the second-best win in college basketball (behind Duke, of course). They also have wins over No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 7 Purdue, No. 11 MSU, No. 12 Nebraska, and will face No. 26 Iowa on the road next week.

There’s a strong case for the maize and blue to have the No. 1 overall seed given the levels of domination over most all of the aforementioned teams.

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