Key moments emerge in Oxford High shooter's crucial court hearing

Editor's note: This story contains graphic information. Reader discretion is advised. 

Pontiac — Unsettling moments in a day of graphic testimony unfolded Thursday at the Oxford High School shooter's hearing to decide whether the teenager will live the rest of his life behind bars.

Prosecutors drew a picture of Ethan Crumbley's violent and premeditative thoughts in the weeks and days leading up to the shooting at the teen's Miller hearing Thursday, which provided the first suggestions of the teen's motivations in carrying out the shooting, as well as the first clear picture of how it happened.

One of the portraits that emerged from an emotional day was of a teenager who loved to kill — it gave him pleasure and power to torture and maim small creatures like baby birds.

"God, I want to kill now and am I getting that feeling where I need to kill again," Ethan, then 15, texted a friend after videotaping the torture of several baby birds in June 2021, five months before his attack on the Michigan high school.

On cross-examination, the defense team tried to build a case that Ethan was neglected by his parents, had no support for his depression and was caught in "a time loop of sadness." The defense lawyers said prosecutors will not be able to meet their burden to prove life without parole is a proportional sentence for a juvenile.

More:'I can't stop thinking about it,' Oxford shooting suspect said in video the night before attack

Prosecutors are scheduled to continue presenting evidence on Friday. The defense has yet to lay out its case for allowing a chance at parole for Ethan. But on cross-examination of witnesses Thursday, defense attorneys asked questions of prosecution witnesses that aimed to play up factors such as Ethan's age, his mental illnesses and issues with his family in a bid at getting a prison sentence with an opportunity for parole.

"Fifteen-year-old Ethan Crumbley is not one of those rare juveniles who ... doesn't have the ability to be rehabilitated," defense attorney Paulette Loftin said.

Parents and families members of Oxford High victims recoiled at much of the testimony from witnesses who read entries from Ethan's extensive journals and text messages as well as presented crime scene videos and photos. One sheriff's deputy described how the teen shot several of his victims at point-blank range.

Ethan recorded a video the night before the Nov. 30, 2021, attack, saying he would wait for the bell to ring for fifth hour.

"I'm going to walk to the dividend between the boys and the girls bathroom. I'll have my black jacket on, and I'll walk behind someone and I will shoot a bullet in their skull. ... I'm going to open fire on everyone in that hallway," the teen said in a self-made recording played in court by Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald's office on Thursday.

The hearing is for Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe to decide if Ethan should be sentenced to life without parole in prison.

Killed in the shooting were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. Several of the victims' family members began to weep as Ethan, wearing black eyeglasses and appearing much taller than when he was arrested in 2021, walked into Rowe's courtroom at 9:05 a.m. in shackles, flanked by multiple deputies.

Five rows of seating inside the courtroom were full of parents, families and friends of the four victims, including Steve and Reina St. Juliana; Buck and Sheri Myre; Craig Shilling; Nicole Beausoleil; Meghan and Chad Gregory; and others who have children in the district.

None of the families wanted to speak after the hearing, which ran more than five hours and included testimony from three members of the Oakland County Sheriff's Department who were among those to be first on the scene that day and were clearly emotional about what they saw and experienced.

McDonald's office is seeking a sentence of life without parole for the teen after he pleaded guilty in October to 24 felonies, including terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder. They plan to call up to 12 unidentified Oxford students to testify, as well as showing potentially graphic photos of the shooting's aftermath.

Journal entries outline shooter's premeditation

Months before he fatally shot four students and injured seven other people on Nov. 30, 2021, Ethan wrote in his journal that he wanted to "be remembered through all of history," according to testimony.

At the start of the hearing, Lt. Timothy Willis with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office read multiple entries Ethan wrote in a journal before the shooting, many about shooting fellow classmates and "pretty girls."

"The first victim has to be a pretty girl with a future so she can suffer just like me," he wrote.

Willis read multiple entries from the teen's journal on the stand, many of them violent. The teen vowed to cause the biggest shooting in Michigan's history and wrote about how he wanted to record the shooting so the victim's parents would have to see it in court. Willis said the journal included dozens of drawings.

In an entry where he talked about having a mental breakdown, he wrote, "I have completely lost my s---. ... My grades are falling, my parents hate each other, we have no money, I have zero HELP for my mental problems and it's causing me to SHOOT UP THE F-----G SHOOL."

Defense tries to show possible abuse, neglect

Loftin, during her questioning of Willis, introduced evidence of former possible abuse and neglect that the shooter had gone through as a child. These are presented as mitigating factors that might persuade Rowe to give Ethan a prison sentence with a chance at parole.

Prosecutors have the burden to show by clear and convincing evidence that a life without parole sentence is warranted. Mitigating factors include the shooter's age, his family and home environment, the circumstances of the crime, factors associated with his youth and the possibility of rehabilitation.

When Ethan was about 4 years old, neighbors said, his father, James Crumbley, would scream at Ethan, who was usually crying, Willis testified. Neighbors told police they could hear the parents cussing and could often hear Ethan screaming and crying. They also saw his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, smack him on the buttocks and drag him into the house by his arm.

A Lake Orion neighbor when Ethan was 7 or 8 years old said Ethan's parents would leave him alone with their dog and ferret and would leave him alone at night. Another neighbor said the parents were always yelling at each other and could be heard screaming and throwing things.

Willis acknowledged their investigation found that horses took up a majority of James and Jennifer Crumbley's time.

"Even on the day of the shooting, the horses were a top priority for them," Loftin said.

In contrast to the prosecutor's presentation of Ethan's journals, Loftin read portions talking about the teen's mental health. He wrote about how his hallucinations were kicking in, how lonely he was and how few people he had to talk to. His dog had recently died, and his best friend had suddenly left the area. 

"I talk to no one. I have very little talks with my parents and sometimes talk more with my cat dexter (sic) than people," Ethan wrote. "I have no life and no future."

He wrote that his dark side had taken over, but that he didn't like it anymore. He wanted one of his teachers to send him to the office so he could confess about a bird head he left in the bathroom. He said he had barely made it through ninth grade because of how bad his depression had been and asked how he was supposed to make it through high school when he was past his breaking point.

"I used to like (the dark side) and now I don't want to be evil. I want help but my parents don't listen to me so I can't get help," Ethan wrote. "I sometimes even regret about doing the shooting. If I don't though then what is there for me. … I feel like I'm in a time loop of sadness."

Much of Loftin's arguments focused on his parents' impact on his life: how they took Ethan to the shooting range, bought him the gun, left him alone and failed to seek mental health treatment for him when he asked.

Loftin pointed to James and Jennifer Crumbley's actions after the shooting and how their actions did not show care or concern toward Ethan. They drained his bank account, and Jennifer Crumbley texted her husband, "Ethan isn't going to get out of this. We need to save ourselves," before they fled to avoid charges.

Ethan expressed in his journal that he felt like a burden to his parents.

James and Jennifer Crumbley have also been charged in connection with the shootings. They each face four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count for each child their son killed. Prosecutors say they were grossly negligent in giving their son the gun and the shooting should have been foreseeable. Their case is at the Michigan Supreme Court pending an appeal from their attorneys. 

First detailed account emerges of shooting

Thursday's hearing also provided the most detailed public account so far of how Ethan carried out his attack at Oxford High School.

Detective Edward Wagrowski with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office described what he remembered from watching the footage countless times. How the shooter left the bathroom, his head held high, and immediately shot Phoebe Arthur and her boyfriend, Elijah Mueller. Both were wounded but survived.

Right after that, he shot Hana St. Juliana, Kylie Ossege and Riley Franz, who were right next to Phoebe and Elijah. He shot John Asciutto, then turned and shot Hana again, according to the deputy.

"At this point, she just completely falls over and then he runs down the hallway," Wagrowski said.

Kylie, Riley and John were wounded and survived. 

Madisyn Baldwin was curled in the fetal position in the hallway, trying to hide, when the shooter "walked up to her and executed her," Wagrowski said. Madisyn's family was sobbing in the gallery as Wagrowski told Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast about the shooting.

He shot Tate Myre next, which Willis said was from a long distance away. Tate rounded the corner and fell to the ground. When the shooter approached Tate, he shot him again and Wagrowski said he remembers seeing Tate flinch.

"He walks past Tate without a care," Wagrowski said. "Didn't look at him or nothing."

The teen fired several rounds into an office, then into classrooms, before he turned back the way he came. He walked past an assistant principal, who was next to Tate and had tapped him with her foot. He turned his head in shame as he walked past her, Wagrowski said.

Ethan made a hard right into a bathroom, where he shot and killed Justin Shilling. That's not on video, but Wagrowski said he could see Keegan Gregory tearing out of the bathroom so fast he was just a blur on the camera. 

How community members reacted

Attorney Ven Johnson, who represents several Oxford families in civil litigation, said it was a difficult day for his clients to hear the "worst of the worst" facts as legal teams work to meet the requirements of the Miller hearing.

"He admitted he knew exactly what he was doing (but) did it anyway. There is no question he is legally competent, and that's why there has never been an insanity defense," Johnson said.

Ethan's legal team initially considered pursuing an insanity defense, but the teen pleaded guilty.

Attorney Wolfgang Mueller also sat through Thursday's proceedings. Mueller represents the families of Madisyn Baldwin and Riley Franz.

"It was a rough day. There were a lot of things that came out today that I think people didn't know," Mueller said. "The level of depravity, the level of planning was something that I hadn't experienced, and I think people are going to be shocked at how sick he was and how unfeeling and more so wanting to inflict physical and emotional pain on people. That was the most disturbing thing I heard today."

jchambers@detroitnews.com

kberg@detroitnews.com