Oxford shooter's journal entries read during James Crumbley trial detail teen's plan to 'shoot up' school

Pontiac — As Oakland County prosecutors try to prove James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford High School shooter, was grossly negligent by allowing his teen son access to a gun he used to kill four classmates, they presented on Tuesday their most direct evidence yet — from the shooter himself.

An entry in a journal kept by Ethan Crumbley the day before he opened fire said he had "access to the gun and ammo" in his family's home.

The chilling entry was one of several read by Lt. Timothy Willis, a detective in the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, during the trial of James Crumbley, Ethan Crumbley's father, in Oakland County Circuit Court. He's being tried on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the killings committed by his son on Nov. 30, 2021.

Over 22 pages, in every entry, the shooter mentioned his desire to get a 9mm gun and "shoot up" his school, Willis testified. The teen wrote that he wanted a 9mm because of its effectiveness for killing — that's the same caliber he used in the shooting.

"I am fully committed to this now. so yeah,…I’m going to prison for life and many people have about 1 day left to live,” the shooter wrote in the journal, which was found in a bathroom stall of Oxford High School after the shooting.

The shooter also wrote at least three times about asking his parents for mental health help, but said they would not listen, according to entries read by Willis.

“I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help," he said.

James Crumbley, 47, is being tried on the involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with the deaths of four students his son shot — Hana St. Juliana, 14; Justin Shilling, 17; Tate Myre, 16; and Madisyn Baldwin, 16.

His trial marks just the second time a parent has been tried for involuntary manslaughter in connection with a school mass shooting carried out by their child — only following the trial of his wife earlier this winter. A jury convicted Jennifer Crumbley on the same charges Feb. 6.

Crumbley is accused of causing the deaths by allowing his son to access the handgun because he didn't properly secure the family's firearms. The combination was set to 000 on a gun safe, kept in a TV nightstand in the Crumbleys' bedroom, that held two other guns owned by the family, which Det. Adam Stoyek testified Tuesday was the default code.

Testimony has also revealed cable lock that came with the SIG Sauer 9mm handgun purchase lay unopened in another case, found on a bed in the master bedroom.

Mariell Lehman, James Crumbley's defense attorney, has pressed witnesses throughout the trial about what they knew or what her client did or didn't know, or what he did. In at least one entry, the shooter wrote that he had to find the gun.

"I will have to find where my dad hid my 9mm before I can shoot the school," he wrote.

Emotions high

A few jurors appeared to blink back tears while others sat stoically as prosecutors on Tuesday afternoon played silent school surveillance video of the shooter stalking the hallways. James Crumbley began to cry as the footage played, looking away from the screen. He did not look back up. Lehman put her hand on his back.

Willis also read the causes of death of the four students killed in a wavering voice, choking up as he recited the names of the seven others shot, including a teacher.

The fourth day of testimony focused mainly on the Crumbleys' actions in the shooting's immediate aftermath and first few days following the shooting. They bought prepaid phones and withdrew thousands of dollars in cash before they were eventually found in a studio in Detroit and arrested shortly after midnight on Dec. 4, 2021. They were found with more than $6,000 in cash.

But Lehman questioned if witnesses had any idea what the couple's intent was. Their phones had been earlier taken by police.

"You don’t know what that cash was for?" she asked a technician who helped process the scene where the Crumbleys were found sleeping.

Surveillance footage of James in the back of a patrol car in the hours after the 2021 shooting as police searched the family's house showed how much his demeanor contrasted with his wife.

James told the Oakland County sheriff's detective leading the raid of the family home he wanted to cooperate with the search, and readily told him the code for the combination safe.

“I’m completely open. I want you guys to do what you have to do," Crumbley told Stoyek, in footage shown by prosecutors.

Stoyek detailed the two gun cases found in the the house, along with a gun safe. Inside the safe were two of the family's guns, a Derringer and KelTech.

While Jennifer Crumbley, who also was in the back of the patrol car, repeatedly asked why she was handcuffed, as the Crumbleys had not yet been charged, James tried to calm her. In the background, "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire blared from the patrol car's radio.

“Honey, I love you, in case something happens,” James said before leaning forward to kiss his wife. “If something happens, you do not answer any questions without a lawyer.”

What did James know?

Police found the Crumbleys when the owner of a coffee roasting business, who worked out of the industrial building near the Detroit River where the Crumbleys spent the night before their arrest, arrived late and noticed the couple's car in the sparsely populated parking lot. He recognized the car from a law enforcement bulletin he'd seen on Facebook, and called 911.

"The parents of the shooter that are running away, they're here," Kirtley said in the 911 call, which was played in court. "(Their car) is next to my car in the parking lot. … I can't believe it. They're here."

Footage from a Detroit Police Department SWAT officer's body-worn camera also showed a team bursting into the studio, guns drawn, where the Crumbleys lay on a mattress early in the morning on Dec. 4. Officers repeatedly shouted "Hands! Hands!"

Repeatedly, Lehman questioned witnesses on what they did and didn't know and if they had any sense of what James knew.

She pointed out that the law enforcement officers involved in searching the Crumbleys' home and later arresting them wouldn't know whether the couple planned to flee or turn themselves in — or even if they knew about the charges prosecutors filed midday on Dec. 4.

All told, six witnesses testified Tuesday with Willis, the detective who read the shooter's journal entries, as prosecutors' final witness of the day.

Prosecutors did not yet formally rest their case, with prosecutor Marc Keast saying they need to look through their exhibits a final time.

Oakland Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews told the jury she expects closing arguments to happen this week.

The trial resumes Wednesday. James Crumbley faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.