What James Crumbley did, didn't know about Oxford shooter's access to gun takes focus at trial

Pontiac — An image of an unopened cable lock for a handgun, still in its original packaging, flashed Thursday on a video screen for jurors in an Oakland County courtroom, highlighting what will likely be the crux of the trial against the father of the Oxford High School shooter.

That gun lock, along with what James Crumbley did and didn't know about his son's access to a 9mm gun and his son's mental health, will likely be the focal points in the unusual trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.

“What happened inside that school was truly a nightmare come to life. But it didn’t have to. That nightmare was preventable," Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast said during his opening statement.

But Mariell Lehman, James Crumbley's defense attorney, said prosecutors have cherry-picked evidence to make him look negligent.

Crumbley, 47, is being tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of four students his son shot on Nov. 30, 2021 — Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17. His trial marks the second time a parent has been tried in connection with a mass shooting carried out by their child. Crumbley's wife, Jennifer, was convicted on the same charges a month ago.

The trial started on the same day Crumbley's communication privileges were restricted at the jail. The Oakland County Sheriff's Office told The Detroit News that Crumbley had made threatening statements on the phone and over email. No further specifics were released.

Prosecutors portrayed Crumbley on Thursday "as the adult in the best position" to stop the shooting that took students' lives, but he failed to practice "ordinary care."

Crumbley had purchased his son a gun and took him to a shooting range regularly in the months before the shooting but also knew his son had been struggling after his only friend moved away suddenly, they said. He'd also met with school officials the morning of the shooting about a disturbing math drawing his son had made.

"This nightmare, these murders, were preventable by him, were foreseeable by him," Keast said.

In her brief opening statement, Lehman outlined what jurors would not hear during the trial: that Crumbley was aware of his son's plans to open fire on his high school.

“What prosecution wants you to believe, the part that isn’t true, is that James Crumbley knew what his son was going to do," she said.

But Keast said Crumbley's trial isn't about bad parenting. And he made it clear that Crumbley isn't charged with murder in connection with the Oxford shootings, highlighting that he was charged because of his gross negligence.

“James Crumbley isn’t charged with what his son did on Nov. 30. He’s charged with what he did and what he didn’t do on Nov. 30, 2021," Keast said.

Lehman countered that Crumbley — who wore a headset to amplify sound during proceedings Thursday because he's hard of hearing — didn't know there was any imminent danger after the meeting with school officials, so much so he went back to work as a DoorDash driver because it was his job.

 "When you’re not aware of an immediate, imminent danger, why would you do anything different than what you normally do? You wouldn’t because you don’t have any reason to think you need to," Lehman said.

'A proud chest'

Mimicking Jennifer's trial, the first witnesses described the pandemonium the day of the shooting as Ethan Crumbley systemically fired nearly three dozen bullets in a matter of minutes, killing four and injuring seven. The shooter came out of a bathroom with a "proud chest," his shoulders back, before opening fire, said Edward Wagrowski, a former detective with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office who pieced together surveillance footage.

The jury also heard testimony from Molly Darnell, a teacher at Oxford High School at the time, as she described how students rushed to get out of the school and how she locked eyes with the shooter through a classroom door window.

After a bullet pierced Darnell's upper left arm with a sting that felt like hot water, she said she didn't feel any pain, only shedding her cardigan to use as a tourniquet after she felt blood drip down. Barricading her classroom door was her only focus, she testified, amid listening for clues in the oddly silent hallway, save for popping noises Darnell said could have been mistaken for lockers slamming shut.

The shooter shot several times through Darnell's door, and she said had she not jumped to the side, he would have shot her in her chest. 

"He was aiming to kill me," Darnell testified. "Those shots were intended."

During her testimony, Crumbley began to cry, wiping his eyes with a tissue.

Excluded texts

What the jury won't hear or see during Crumbley's trial are some of the text messages his wife, Jennifer, exchanged with their son in the months before the shooting, including some about the teen fearing a "demon" was in the house and another the day of the shooting when she texted, "Ethan don't do it."

Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews said prosecutors have presented no evidence James knew about the texts, so she ruled that they can't be admitted.

The judge also won't allow some messages between Jennifer and her boss before the shooting. But Matthews will allow some sent after, when Jennifer told her boss she'd discovered the gun and bullets were missing from the family's home, and she suspected her son must be the shooter.

The judge has already ruled to allow much of the same evidence prosecutors brought in Jennifer's trial.

Timeline day of shooting

Thursday's testimony included a detailed timeline of when the 9mm SIG Sauer was purchased, four days before the shooting, and what happened on Nov. 30, 2021.

Crumbley dropped his son off at school that day at 7:46 a.m. but returned less than three hours later to meet with school officials about the disturbing math worksheet that included a drawing of a gun and the words "The thoughts won't stop" and "Help me." After the meeting, he immediately returned to work delivering DoorDash orders.

At 1:09 p.m., James received an email about the shooting at Oxford High School. He called the shooter four minutes later, then again at 1:17 p.m., said Wagrowski, the former detective, who testified in detail about phone records and text messages between the Crumbleys.

Crumbley spoke to his wife, Jennifer, for 10 minutes as he drove back to their home from the Meijer parking lot, where students were reuniting with parents the day of his shooting. There, he checked for the 9mm. gun.

Around 1:30 p.m., he called 911, his voice frantic.

“I have a missing gun at my house,” James Crumbley said. “I have a missing gun, and my son is at the school. … I don’t know if it was him, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m really freaking out.”

Before Thursday's session ended, prosecutors asked Matthews to end Crumbley's communication privileges at the jail. Matthews signed the order Thursday to revoke Crumbley’s privileges, aside from talking to his attorney and legitimate clergy members.

Crumbley was reluctant to allow prosecutors to discuss the order on the record in court and also did not want to agree to it. Eventually, when Matthews said the issue would end up in the media, he agreed to the order. The prosecution’s order wasn’t immediately available.

“James Crumbley’s access to a telephone and electronic messaging while in the Oakland County Jail has been limited due to threatening statements he made while on the phone and in electronic messages,” according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. “His access to a phone or electronic messaging is now limited to communication with his lawyer.”

Testimony is set to resume at 9 a.m. Friday.

jcardi@detroitnews.com

kberg@detroitnews.com