Jennifer Crumbley trial – live: Jury deliberates case of Michigan school shooter’s mother
Tearful Jennifer Crumbley takes stand in manslaugher trial
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The historic trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter, is underway.
In December, Ethan Crumbley was convicted of killing four of his classmates and injuring seven others on 30 November 2021. She is now facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
She has pleaded not guilty. The 45-year-old’s husband, James Crumbley, is being tried separately in March.
The judge read jury instructions on Monday morning.
The defence rested its case on Friday after the defendant took the stand. Ms Crumbley’s attorney delivered strange closing arguments, in which she compared herself to Ms Crumbley as “messy” working moms.
“My kids could easily grab a knife without me knowing it…and walk out the door of my house and go play with the other kids…and my son could kill somebody,” Shannon Smith said. “And I never would have expected it to happen.”
The prosecution argued that Ms Crumbley could have taken “tragically small” steps that could have prevented her son from shooting up his school. The prosecutors mentioned that the mother bought her son a gun days before the shooting, recognized that he was “acting depressed” and spent a lot of time alone.
Now, Ms Crumbley waits for a jury to return the verdict.
School shooter’s mother made shocking admission on the stand
The 45-year-old took the stand last week.
Prosecutors argued that Ms Crumbley ignored her son’s “downward spiral” and gave him access to a gun, while the defence described Ms Crumbley as a “hypervigilant” mother and said that her son’s declining mental health was “not on her radar”.
Ms Crumbley was mostly unemotional while taking the stand — except for when discussing her son or the shooting that he committed.
“That was the hardest thing I had to stomach – that my child harmed and killed other people,” Ms Crumbley said, stumbling over the last few words and uttering them quietly.
Although she spent most of her time on the stand on Thursday making direct eye contact either with her attorney or the jury box, when she mentioned her son’s shooting, she looked down, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
When asked if she could change what had happened if she could, Ms Crumbley said, “Oh absolutely. I wish he would’ve killed us instead.”
Kelly Rissman5 February 2024 14:41
Why is Jennifer Crumbley on trial?
Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents in US history to be charged and tried for their alleged role in a mass school shooting.
The parents were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. They have pleaded not guilty.
The pair are being tried separately. Jennifer Crumbley’s trial is underway, just one month after her son was convicted and sentenced to life without a possibility of parole.
Kelly Rissman5 February 2024 14:37
Jury handed the case
On Monday, the judge read jury instructions in the case of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Michigan school shooter who killed four and injured seven others when he shot up his school on 30 November, 2021.
Her son, Ethan Crumbley, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in December.
She has pleaded not guilty.
Her husband is being tried separately in March.
Kelly Rissman5 February 2024 14:35
