Ethan Crumbley, now 16, shot and killed four students at his high school on the outskirts of Detroit in November 2021
The parents of a deeply disturbed 15-year-old boy who shot and killed four students at his Michigan school urged a judge on Thursday to prevent their son’s journals being allowed as evidence in their involuntary manslaughter case, arguing that they should not be tried on the basis of his beliefs.
Ethan Crumbley, now 16, was charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder for the November 2021 massacre of his fellow Oxford High students.
On Thursday a judge ruled that he must remain in an adult jail until his trial, which has tentatively been set for September.
His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were charged with involuntary manslaughter after it emerged they had bought the gun for their troubled son, who spent hours researching mass shootings and pleaded with his parents for help before using the weapon at his school. The judge said they failed to exercise ‘ordinary care and diligence’ as parents.
The parents will go on trial in October, and it is unclear whether Ethan will testify against them. Last month, a judge refused to reduce their bail and insisted they were a flight risk.
In Thursday’s hearing, the parents’ attorney argued that Ethan’s diaries, text messages and internet searches should not be allowed in their trial as evidence.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were arrested shortly after their son carried out his mass shooting
Jennifer (far left) and James Crumbley sit with their lawyer Mariell Lehman (center) in court
The teenager had raged against ‘sleepy Joe Biden’ and said he hopes that his shooting led to Biden’s impeachment.
His mother had written to Donald Trump after the 2016 election, saying: ‘thank you for allowing my right to bear arms’.
Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, representing the parents, wrote in court documents: ‘Mr and Mrs Crumbley should not be found guilty or not guilty depending on the attitudes of the jurors about Presidents Biden and Trump.
‘Political beliefs have no legitimate role in this trial.’
They argued, according to The Detroit Free Press, that Ethan’s journal ‘has the serous potential for distracting the jury from the real issues in the case.’
They added: ‘The materials risk the danger of turning jury deliberations into a political debate.
‘It would also be likely to lead to longer deliberations and possibly an endless string of hung juries, as the likelihood that all jurors would have the same attitude about the anti-Biden diatribe of (Ethan) is surely close to zero.’
Relatives of the victims of the November shooting embrace outside Oxford High School
Ethan Crumbley is pictured in court in Oakland County, Michigan
The Crumbleys also want to block the jury from hearing about their alleged affairs, pot smoking or drinking habits, horse ownership or messy house — all of which has been raised by prosecutors.
Ethan detailed how he would carry out the shooting in his journal, and referred to the president as ‘sleepy f****** Joe Biden’ – echoing a common Trump nickname.
Ethan predicted that his actions will be so big that ‘sleepy f*** Joe Biden will have to make an apolg(y) to people.’
He added: ‘Hopefully my shooting will cause Biden to get impeached.’
The teenager, who teachers found drawing pictures of guns shooting people, and scribblings on his math homework stating: ‘My life is useless,’ ‘Blood everywhere’ and ‘The thoughts won’t stop, help me’.
In his journal, he wrote: ‘I want all of America to see the darkness in me and hate me.’
He declared:’The first victim has to be a pretty girl with a future so she can suffer just like me.’
Ethan wrote: ‘I wish to hear the screams of the children as I shoot them.’
He wrote that he wanted to ’cause the biggest school shooting in Michigan’s history.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are accused of failing to prevent their son from murdering his fellow pupils
The Crumbleys are trying to prevent their son’s diaries and text messages being included in court testimony
‘I will kill everyone I f****** see.
‘I have fully mentally lost it after years of fighting my dark side. My parents won’t listen to me about help or a therapist.
‘People will be talking about my shooting for years and I will make a huge impact on the United States.
‘I want America to hear what I did.’
The teenager’s parents said they had no idea of the existence of the journal.
‘There is no evidence that (Ethan’s) parents knew about or ever saw (his) journal,’ they said.
‘Any reasonable person would be horrified to see that (Ethan) stated plans, such as ‘the first victim has to be a pretty girl.’ ‘
The Crumbleys’ lawyers also have asked a judge to exclude from trial Ethan’s 400 internet searches for graphic content involving other school shootings, particularly ones in Florida, and people being killed.
And they are seeking to exclude his text messages to a friend.
‘They make me feel like I’m the problem,’ Ethan texted the friend.
‘My mom makes everyone feel like a piece of s***.
‘I actually asked my dad to take me to the doctor the other day, and he just gave me some pills and said to ‘suck it up.’ My mom laughed when I told her.’
Ethan also told the friend he was hiding a dead bird’s head beneath his bed.
‘Holy s***, my mom almost found the bird head,’ he wrote.
‘Jesus Christ my heart is pounding.’
The Crumbley’s lawyer argued: ‘There is no doubt (Ethan’s) writings, texts and internet searches are extremely disturbing and upsetting.
‘This makes them particularly unfairly prejudicial to Mr. and Mrs. Crumbley, who did not have knowledge of or write the journal, had no knowledge of or participation in sending the texts or have anything to do with (Ethan’s) horrific internet searches.’
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