School shooter's mom Jennifer Crumbley had 'tainted' trial, attorneys say in request to toss conviction

New attorneys for the mother of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley filed a motion on Monday for an acquittal and new trial, arguing that Jennifer Crumbley’s criminal trial in connection with the November 2021 shooting was “tainted from top to bottom.”

In a first-of-its-kind case, a Michigan jury in February convicted Jennifer on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting her son carried out on Nov. 30, 2021, killing Tate Myre, 16; Justin Shilling, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and injuring seven others. Her husband, James Crumbley, was later convicted on the same charges, setting a new precedent for parents of children who commit crimes. 

“These proceedings were tainted from top to bottom and were borne out of prosecutorial overreach attempting to criminalize Mrs. Crumbley’s noncriminal conduct,” attorney Michael Dezsi wrote in the Monday filing. “Apart from the improper decision to charge, Mrs. Crumbley was denied a fair trial where the prosecution deliberately withheld from the defense key impeachment evidence and proceeded on Kafkaesque inconsistent legal theories that work a grave injustice on the law.”

Jennifer was sentenced to serve between 10 and 15 years in prison after an Oakland County courtroom heard evidence arguing the now-46-year-old neglected her son’s cries for help over the years leading up to the shooting. 

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She and James also showed up at Oxford High on the same day Ethan shot people in the hallways to discuss violent images the then-15-year-old drew on a worksheet in class with school administrators, but they left and went back to work shortly afterward. 

“Mrs. Crumbley’s constitutional rights were further violated by allowing the jury to convict her in the absence of a unanimous decision as to what crimes were committed. For these reasons, the court should grant a judgment of acquittal, or, in the alternative, a new trial,” Dezsi wrote.

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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)

He argues in a nearly 700-page filing, in part, that prosecutors gave school counselor Sean Hopkins and former Dean of Students Nicholas Ejak cooperation agreements, or proffer agreements, to testify against Jennifer Crumbley without sharing information about those agreements with Jennifer’s defense. Dezsi argues that those agreements with the prosecutor’s office allowed Ejak and Hopkins to avoid criminal charges in the case. 

An independent investigation into the shooting by Guidepost Solutions found that Ejak and Hopkins, “the two people with the most knowledge about the decision to allow the shooter to go back to class” after his meeting with his parents and school officials on the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, refused to cooperate with the investigation, Guidepost wrote.

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

The investigation also found that “[i]n certain critical areas, individuals at every level of the district… failed to provide a safe and secure environment.”

Dezsi said in his motion for acquittal that Hopkins and Ejak were “in the proverbial hotseat hoping to avoid criminal prosecution for their acts and omissions related to the shooting.” 

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“By cooperating with the prosecution, these witnesses were hoping to avoid prosecution such that they had bias, motive and personal interest to testify in a manner so as to shift responsibility toward Mrs. Crumbley and away from themselves,” the filing states.

Jennifer Crumbley was convicted at trial for involuntary manslaughter, the first time parents have been charged in a U.S. mass school shooting. She and her husband were accused of contributing to the deaths at Oxford High School by neglecting the needs of their son, Ethan Crumbley, and making a gun accessible at home.  (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)

Dezsi said in a Monday press release summarizing his request for an acquittal or new trial that Jennifer’s “right to a fair trial was further denied when the jury was instructed that it could convict Mrs. Crumbley even without a unanimous verdict.”

“There’s a reason why no parent in America has ever been held responsible for the criminal acts of their child in relation to a school shooting,” he said in the press release. “It is because Mrs. Crumbley committed no crime. This case should be concerning for parents everywhere.”

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A judge agreed that the parents of a Michigan school shooter were trying to avoid police when they were holed up in a Detroit art studio before their arrest in 2021. James and Jennifer Crumbley were in court to face sentencing for involuntary manslaughter for their role in an attack that killed four students at Oxford High School in 2021. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald, who tried all three Crumbley cases, criticized Dezsi’s statement, saying “parents everywhere are worried,” but not “about being prosecuted.”

“[T]hey are worried about their kids being shot at school,” she said in a Monday statement responding to Dezsi’s press release. “James and Jennifer Crumbley are the rare, grossly negligent exception, and twenty-four jurors unanimously agreed they are responsible for the deaths of Hana, Madisyn, Tate, and Justin. Holding them accountable for their role is one important step in making our schools safer.”

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Ethan Crumbley, at age 15, walked into Oxford High School on the morning of Nov. 30, 2021, went to morning classes, met with the school counselor with his parents, and was sent back to class before he took a gun out of his backpack and killed 16-year-old Tate Myre, 16-year-old Justin Shilling, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin.  (FOX 2 Detroit)

Chief Assistant David Williams said that “[n]o witnesses were given anything for their testimony, and there was no immunity – these witnesses testified without any promises or protection whatsoever.”

“The Michigan Court of Appeals has already reviewed the legal issues raised by Jennifer Crumbley and rejected them,” Williams said. “Where there are egregious facts like these – where two parents ignored the obvious signs that their son was in crisis, bought him a gun and failed to secure it, and then failed to disclose the existence of the gun or take their son home when he drew out his plans, including writing ‘blood everywhere’ with a picture of a gun and a body with bleeding bullet wounds, they can and should be prosecuted.”

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James Crumbley was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deadly Nov. 30, 2021, Oxford High School shooting. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press )

The prosecutor’s office noted on Monday that in March 2023, the Michigan Court of Appeals concluded that the Crumbleys’ “actions and inactions were inexorably intertwined with” Ethan’s actions.

“This connection exists not simply because of the parent-child relationship but also because of the facts showing that defendants were actively involved in EC’s mental state remaining untreated, that they provided him with the weapon used to kill the victims, and that they refused to remove him from the situation that led directly to the shootings,” the Appeals Court wrote at the time.

James and Ethan Crumbley are also separately appealing their convictions. James was also sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison, and Ethan, who was a teenager at the time he pleaded guilty to his crimes, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.