Midwest
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 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.”
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.”
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Detroit, MI
Where to watch Houston Astros vs Detroit Tigers: TV channel, start time, streaming for June 26
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
The 2026 MLB season has surpassed the quarter mark, and after each team’s first 40 games, there’s plenty of reasons to tune in all summer long.
Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami has already proven doubters wrong by launching 17 home runs, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes consistently looks like the best version of himself on the mound and Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski is throwing harder than any starter in the majors.
The MLB action continues on Friday as the Houston Astros visit the Detroit Tigers.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in for the first pitch.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is Houston Astros vs Detroit Tigers?
First pitch between the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. (ET) on Friday, June 26.
How to watch Houston Astros vs Detroit Tigers on Friday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Friday, June 26, 2026, at 6:34 a.m.
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for June 26 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
Milwaukee’s current wastewater treatment contract holder, Veolia Water Milwaukee, is under fire, with some calling for an audit.
A look at MMSD’s South Shore and Jones Island wastewater plants
A look at MMSD’s South Shore and Jones Island plants as leaders weigh a contested $700M, 10-year operations contract in Milwaukee.
It goes without saying that Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is an essential community asset.
Recently, MMSD has been in the news and not in a good way. The MMSD Commission voted to approve an audit of the district’s private wastewater operator. This is less than six weeks after the community organization Common Ground launched a public campaign calling for an audit of Veolia Water Milwaukee, alleging mismanagement of the Jones Island and South Shore wastewater treatment facilities.
I was briefly on a six-member MMSD advisory committee for the 1998 United Water Services contract. Now 28 years, and 2008, 2018, contracts later, the question is what firm to hire for the 2028 contract. I read Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Urban Milwaukee articles, whistle-blower letters and other materials and jotted down concerns listed below (there are others):
- Veolia cut corners on treatment time and process chemicals
- Veolia allowed MMSD assets — buildings and process equipment — to deteriorate
- Veolia provided inadequate staffing
- Employees, particularly those who questioned management, were treated poorly
- Reversing these conditions will be very expensive, if it is even possible to do so
Aren’t these issues sufficient to disqualify Veolia from future consideration?
MMSD has an innovative civil engineering history.
The national American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) designated the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark when they honored Milwaukee in 1974 for developing the waste-activated sludge treatment process and pioneering a beneficial reuse of biosolids (Milorganite). MMSD has also been recognized for the Deep Tunnel and many innovative infrastructure and flood management projects over the years.
Wisconsin has a strong civil engineering community, which includes the American Society of Civil Engineers-Wisconsin Section (ASCE-WI); five civil engineering university programs with three —Marquette, MSOE and UW-Milwaukee — in Milwaukee); as well as many technical school and apprenticeship programs. Civil engineering projects require many types of expertise and skills.
Is anyone asking questions such as what should be the future of wastewater treatment in Milwaukee? Or what do citizens know about wastewater treatment? Or what do citizens need to know about treatment options to make informed decisions about parameters such as feasibility, public health, environmental protection, costs and financing?
Before the next contract is decided and awarded, shouldn’t human waste generators (citizens), civil engineers and the wastewater industry be asking some of these important questions?
Carol Diggelman, PhD, Emerita Professor, Milwaukee School of Engineering, where she taught for over 30 years, has since retiring, resumed volunteer activities with the League of Women Voters and organized many programs at the intersection of infrastructure and natural resources.
Minneapolis, MN
Reform, money and trust: Council members’ key criteria for Minneapolis’ next police chief
Minneapolis leaders agree the next police chief is a critical choice, but it remains unclear whether the mayor and City Council can align on a candidate.
Mayor Jacob Frey declined an interview on the topic after announcing the hiring process and timeline earlier in the week. But 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS spoke with City Council Member and Public Health, Safety & Equity Committee Chair Jason Chavez and Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, the prior Public Health, Safety & Equity Committee Chair.
All agree the police chief is one of the most important roles in Minneapolis.
Asked what it would take to get enough members on board with a candidate so that they can be confirmed, Council Member Vetaw said, “I think we’re figuring some of those things out, but what I hear from all council members is someone who’s strong on reform and wants to actually get reforms done right.”
Vetaw added that the next permanent chief should also have a strong record on slowing overspending.
“We need somebody who’s really going to reel that in and handle our money with care. I think those are two things that I hear from all of my colleagues,” she said.
Brian O’Hara resigns as Minneapolis police chief after report shows he interfered with investigation into his conduct
Asked the same question, Council Member Chavez agreed on key candidate criteria, but he expressed less confidence in the hiring process.
“Well, I mean, I’ve cleared out — I’ve laid out some of the things that I would like to see in a candidate,” Chavez said. “And then I want us to feel included in this process, so they can hear our feedback, and I want there to be robust community engagement. I don’t think that it’s oppositional to this plan. I guess my only thing is I want to make sure that all 13 members are included in this process.”
“I really care about community engagement, I really care about the criteria, and I want to make sure that the police chief that comes into Minneapolis is strongly committed to police accountability,” he continued.
“People want transparency and accountability. They want someone who can speak to the community, and it’s truthful,” Vetaw said.
“Like, we’re all looking for the same kind of leader.”
The question comes as Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette, as the head of the department overseeing MPD and nominated by Mayor Frey in April, remains without enough City Council votes to be reappointed. Vetaw supports Barnette, while Chavez does not.
Vetaw said the lack of agreement over Commissioner Barnette is not an omen for the process of hiring a new MPD chief.
“I don’t believe that what’s happening with the commissioner is a direct reflection on the process for searching for a new chief. I think this council certainly separates those two,” she said.
“Do I want to move fast? Absolutely not. I want to move at a pace where we get the best person for the job … and I think we all want that. This is one of the most important roles in the city of Minneapolis.”
Chavez said he hopes the process leads to a chief he can support.
Asked if he believes he’ll be able to put his vote behind the candidate ultimately nominated by the mayor at the end of the process, Chavez said, “I would hope so.”
“And I want to be able to vote for a chief,” he continued. “I just think that we have to make sure that there’s a robust process that includes all council members, and that ensures that the voices of our community are not being left out.”
Former Chief Brian O’Hara was unanimously confirmed in 2022, though the council had a few different members at the time.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Mayor Frey said, “Mayor Frey has been very clear that the search for a new police chief will be a collaborative process that includes community, City staff, and Council Members.”
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS will continue tracking the selection process, including its cost to taxpayers.
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