Oxford suspect wanted to 'to be remembered through all of history' for shooting up school

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

Pontiac — Months before he fatally shot four students at his high school and injured several others, Ethan Crumbley wrote that he wanted "to shoot up the school" and "be remembered through all of history," according to testimony Thursday to determine if he should be sentenced to prison without the chance of parole.

During a hearing in Oakland County Circuit Court, Lt. Timothy Willis with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office read multiple entries Ethan wrote in a journal before the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School, 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.

It was one piece of graphic testimony among a flood of it in court Thursday as the prosecution built a picture of Ethan's violent thoughts in the weeks and days leading up to the shooting from journal entries, text messages and witness testimony.

On cross-examination, the defense team tried to build a case that the shooter was neglected by his parents, had no support for his depression and was caught in "a time loop of sadness."

Several of the victims' family members began to weep as the shooter walked into Judge Kwame 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.

In her opening statement, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the attack on Oxford High School is unlike any other the nation has ever seen.

"The way he carried it out the picking and choosing of who would die … The way he walks up to them and fires at them at point-blank range … The way he researched and knew Michigan doesn't have a death penalty," McDonald said. "He stayed alive (because) he wanted to witness the suffering he was creating."

But defense attorney Paulette Loftin urged the judge to move from a trial mentality and into a sentencing phase. She noted the facts and images of the case were unpleasant, something Rowe was likely to never forget. But she said prosecutors will not be able to meet their burden to prove life without parole is a proportional sentence.

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

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 and a former teacher who was injured in the shooting to testify, as well as showing potentially graphic photos of the shooting's aftermath.

Killed in the shooting were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.

Prosecutors present violent journal entries, texts

At the start of the hearing, Willis was asked to read multiple entries from the teen's journal, many of them violent. He 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.

According to one entry, he said he also hoped parents would be so sad after their children's deaths that they would kill themselves. Willis said the journal also included dozens of drawings.

In another entry, he pledged that even after a school shooting, he would turn himself in to police because killing himself would be a weak "move."

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."

During the testimony, families listened intently and looked forward. The shooter, meanwhile, looked down during much of the hearing.

He wrote about going to prison and "I think about how many potential people will die," according to one entry read during the hearing.

Texts from Ethan to his friend, "B.W.," were also presented at testimony. In the year before the shooting, he wrote about and talked to his friend about kidnapping, torturing, raping and killing a fellow student at Oxford. He wrote he wanted to break into her bedroom at night and kidnap her. He texted his friend about this plan, but he wrote in his journal the friend talked him out of it. He also texted this friend about drowning children and torturing them. 

"Scary thing is I like being this f----- up," he texted his friend in February 2021. "I love the darkness. … It feels good. … Knowing that your different from sociaty (sic) and not some mindless human like all the others. .. I want to do bad. It satisfies me."

In May 2021, he texted his friend: "Also most serial killers get their damage from their family of accident's (sic) but I have no trauma from my past I was just born this way."

Silence, sobbing during video of shooting

The courtroom fell silent as prosecutors showed surveillance video of the shooting beginning at 12:46 p.m. in the 200 hallways of Oxford High School until police arrived several minutes later.

Parents cried and held each other as they watched the video. Ethan stared down at the floor.

At the end of the video, an officer is seen walking by a victim lying in a doorway.

"The young victims there are pleading for (the police) to help them," Willis said, breaking down into tears. "We're trained to push past that because there's someone actively killing in the building. … How do you push past a child that needs help? … That was the most difficult part, bypassing hurt children that needed help."  

Forensics experts and a detective with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office described the events of the shooting in detail later in the hearing.

"The video lives in my head," Detective Edward Wagrowski said when Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast asked him how much time he spent working with the footage from the shooting.

The teen shot at six classroom doors and windows, firing as many as three times into several of the rooms, according to crime scene photographs shown during the hearing. In all, he fired his gun 32 times, said forensics technician Robert Koteles Jr.

Defense: Ethan's parents left him alone

During their investigation, police spoke to former neighbors, the teen's teachers, his employer at the 5-1 Diner and an employee at a bowling alley Ethan played on a league at, Willis testified on cross-examination.

When Ethan was about 4, neighbors said, 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 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 the child 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 that their investigation found that horses took up a majority of James and Jennifer Crumbley's time. Ethan was not there during that time there.

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

Ethan struggled in school when he was younger and his former teachers said his parents were not involved in his education. He wasn't doing extra assignments at home and they were not reading with him.

Loftin said Ethan didn't have trouble with peers in middle school, and when he was asked in school about his health, he said he wished his parents were home more often. He didn't have any misconduct in school until November 2021, 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.

"I talk to no one. I have very little talks with my parents and sometimes talk more with my cat dexter 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 the 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," he 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."

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. 

Why is a Miller hearing needed?

Because the shooter was 15 at the time of the crime but is charged as an adult, he has to have a Miller hearing so Rowe can determine if it would be appropriate to sentence him to life without parole in prison.

A Miller hearing is a constitutional requirement for juveniles charged as adults with crimes that could land them in prison for life without the chance of parole. During the hearing, the judge will determine whether it is constitutional and appropriate to sentence the shooter to life in prison without parole.

During the hearing, Ethan's attorneys will present mitigating factors against life in prison, including his age, his family and home environment, the circumstances of the crime, factors associated with his youth and the possibility of rehabilitation.

If Rowe decides life without parole is not appropriate for Ethan, he must sentence him to a number of years in prison. Life with parole is not an option for murder cases under Michigan law.

Rowe's sentence must be a minimum of 25 to 40 years and a maximum of at least 60 years. So if the judge decides the shooter's crime does not warrant life without parole, the absolute minimum Ethan would serve in prison before being allowed to ask the parole board for release is 25 years.

Rowe will not make an immediate decision at the hearing's end. He instead will set two dates — one to announce his decision and one for the sentencing. 

A guilty plea

The shooter pleaded guilty in October to terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted murder and 12 counts of felony firearm. He killed Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.

His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are also charged in connection with the shooting. Both face four counts of involuntary manslaughter. The case is pending in the Michigan Supreme Court after Ethan's attorneys appealed a district court judge's decision to bind the parents over for trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.

Google searches, question about death penalty

During Thursday's hearing, Willis testified about multiple Google searches the teen did in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting. Many focused on a possible sentence for a 15-year-old in a mass shooting and whether Michigan has the death penalty.

Willis also testified about entries that involved thoughts of torturing other people and classmates and a video of Ethan torturing and killing baby birds.

" ... There (sic) so young and they had a while (sic) life ahead of them but then I took it aways," he texted to his friend. "That's what I like."  

At the Oakland County Jail in January, he used his tablet to go on the internet, bypass security and look at a website dedicated to real-life torture, gore and school shootings, Willis said. 

"I tried not to look at that website; I tried really hard," Ethan told officers after he was caught looking at the violent website, Willis testified.  

kberg@detroitnews.com