Oakland Co. judge to allow Oxford shooting victim testimony, video at parents' trials

A jury will be able to hear testimony from two witnesses of the Oxford High School shooting and see video from the 2021 massacre during the shooter's parents' trials, despite their attorneys' attempts to get it banned from the proceeding.

Jennifer Crumbley's attorney Shannon Smith and James Crumbley's attorney Mariell Lehman asked Oakland Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews not to allow prosecutors to call three witnesses — teacher Molly Darnell, who was shot during the Nov. 30, 2021 rampage; Oxford High School Assistant Principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall, who saw the shooter and talked to him just before he was arrested; and student Keegan Gregory, who witnessed Justin Shilling being killed in a bathroom.

All three will be allowed to testify during the Crumbleys' trials for involuntary manslaughter, which is scheduled to start next week. Prosecutors later noted they would no longer be calling Keegan as a witness.

Both Jennifer and James Crumbley are being tried in connection with their son Ethan Crumbley's murders of four classmates at Oxford High School. Ethan was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole in late December for the murders of Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.

Matthews said Darnell and Gibson-Marshall’s testimony about the shooter’s identity, the gun and their observations of the shooter are relevant. She will, however, prohibit them from testifying about rendering aid, personal suffering and emotional trauma as it is not relevant to prove the element of the crime.

Prosecutors said the video is useful to show the shooter’s presence on the high school grounds after his parents left on the same day of the killings. Matthews, in her order to allow the video to be played, noted the video is taken from a distance and does not have audio.

“The video depicts the immediate scene of these deaths in this matter and is highly probative to an element of the charge of involuntary manslaughter,” Matthews wrote. “While the video in this matter is prejudicial, its probative value is not outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.”

Smith, Jennifer Crumbley's attorney, argued previously that allowing Darnell, Keegan and Gibson-Marshall to testify would unfairly prejudice the jury and their testimony is irrelevant to the involuntary manslaughter charge. She said in a motion that the "horrors" the victims suffered during the shooting is undisputed and they would stipulate to any facts the court deems to be important.

"The weight of the testimony previously provided by Ms. Darnell, Ms. Gibson-Marshall, and (Keegan) is obviously monumental. It is undeniably unforgettable, sickening, and invokes only the strongest of emotion. This testimony would only serve to inflame the jury's passion and sympathy insomuch that the evidence is unfairly prejudicial," Smith wrote. "There is ultimately no probative value to the testimony in the trial for Mrs. Crumbley."

kberg@detroitnews.com