Jennifer Crumbley - The Mother Prosecuted for her Child’s Crime

By: Ana Sofia Cucalon

Edited by: Jared fischer and Maddy Bennett

On November 30, 2021, Ethan Crumbley, a 15-year-old student at Oxford High School, in Oxford Township Michigan, used a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun to kill four of his classmates and injure seven people. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, had bought the 15-year-old the gun on Black Friday as an early Christmas Present. The morning of the shooting, Jennifer was called to the school because Ethan had been drawing “very alarming” pictures. Shortly after returning to work, having chosen to leave Ethan at school, the shooting began. 

Once Ethan was apprehended by the authorities, he was charged as an adult with 24 counts. [1] However, the surprising case against Jennifer Crumbley started several days later, when both parents were charged with involuntary manslaughter. 

This case is remarkable, as it is the first time parents of school shooters have been held criminally responsible for their child’s actions, marking the beginning of an extraordinary legal battle. When the case against the Crumbley parents was first brought to court, it raised an important question: how can the law make Ethan’s parents, especially considering that Ethan was charged as an adult, criminally responsible for their son’s actions? Can the law pass liability to parents for their adult children’s actions? It was an uphill battle, fueled by an innovative prosecution and the dedication of Oxford Township to hold the Crumbleys responsible for their negligence. [2]

The prosecution, which started their case against Jennifer Crumbley in late January 2024, mainly focused on convincing the jury of one picture–a reckless, negligent mother who was concerned about everything but the care of her very disturbed son. [3] They argued that she had every reason to know that her son was distressed and, thus, was primarily concerned with proving the mother’s foreseeability of Ethan’s crimes.

This means that she reasonably should have known and did anticipate what her son might do with the weapon she provided him and should have understood the harm he was capable of committing to others. Most importantly, however, the prosecution focused on proving that Jennifer did not exercise ordinary care, meaning she did not intervene to prevent foreseeable crimes, when an ordinary person in these same circumstances could have prevented the crime, though she knew of his anticipation to engage in such proclivity. To do so, the prosecution walked the jury through the events preceding the shooting, focusing on four main areas: (1) how Ethan acquired the gun, (2) any negligence Jennifer exercised before the shooting, (3) her failure to respond to the signs signaling the danger her son posed to others, and (4) her actions the day of the shooting. [4]

First, she knew her husband had bought her son a gun, which was locked in a safe with allegedly the factory default combination and a seemingly unused cable lock. Furthermore, it is a fact that Jennifer took her son to the shooting range the Saturday after the gun was bought. Through footage from that day, Ethan is seen as very experienced with the gun, as he fired many rounds in what is called a “shooting stance”. The prosecution argued that it is reasonable to assume Jennifer should have understood her son was becoming proficient with the gun. Second, the prosecution argued that Jennifer exercised negligence in failing to intervene when clear signs of Ethan’s mental instability started becoming evident. [5] To do so, they first brought to the stand a sheriff's deputy who had been through all of the family’s texts, messages, and cell phone calls over the past year. Through this research, the sheriff found texts showing Ethan to be very distressed. The teen would talk about seeing things, how he believed there was a demon in the house, and felt “freaked out.” One day, he asked his mom to text him back after describing these hallucinations. Jennifer did not respond for many hours, as she was busy riding horses (and taking pictures of herself while doing so). In addition, text exchanges between Ethan and his best friend revealed how, according to Ethan, after he told his parents he wanted to see a doctor, he was met with laughter. The prosecution was trying to show that Ethan’s mental state was so unraveled that he was very forthcoming in asking for help and admitting he needed it. [6]

Lastly, the persecution went over the details of the day of the shooting. On the morning of November 30th, 2021, Jennifer was at work when she received a call from Ethan’s guidance counselor around 9:00 am, who had texted Jennifer a picture of a drawing Ethan had made on a school assignment. The drawing was of a figure, covered in bullet holes, lying in a puddle of blood next to a gun similar to the Crumbley’s. The drawing included phrases written by Ethan about how he needed help because the voices in his head wouldn’t stop. When arriving at the counselor’s office, she is described by the guidance counselor as cold and unconcerned with her son. In the meeting, the counselor explained that Ethan was having suicidal ideations and needed immediate help. Neither parent mentioned that the gun in their home resembles the gun in the drawing, and both parents left the counselor’s office 12 minutes after arriving, deciding they needed to return to work and it was best for Ethan to stay in school. Soon after, around lunchtime, Ethan went into a bathroom with the gun in his backpack. When he exited the bathroom, the shooting began. When Jennifer was made aware of cop cars heading to the high school, she texted her son “Ethan don’t do it,” The prosecution affirms that this text proves she knew on some level what Ethan was capable of doing and yet chose to never intervene. [7] 

Then came the defense, led by Jennifer’s lawyer Shannon Smith, and primarily Jennifer’s own witness account. Smith first argued that the Oxford Township community wanted somebody to blame, and while that was understandable, no problems would be solved by holding Jennifer responsible for a crime she did not commit. She stated that the crime was Ethan’s, reminding the jury that the boy had already pleaded guilty, and been convicted, for the crime. In response to the gun, she argued Jennifer was never the “gun person” in the house, but her husband was; therefore, it was his responsibility, not hers. In response to the claims of negligence, Jennifer called herself a helicopter parent, affirming she was in constant communication with the school, and was an extremely present parent. Jennifer also repeatedly expressed that there was nothing that concerned her about Ethan’s behavior and that the “hauntings” and “hallucinations” were a joke among the family after Ethan was given an Ouji board a past Christmas. Concerning her actions the day of the shooting, she said no one in the room reported Ethan or his behavior, that there was no immediate sense of urgency from any school staff member, and that the decision to leave Ethan in school was for his safety and health, not for her convenience. Most importantly, Smith tried convincing the jury that Ethan’s murders were only facts in hindsight, but that Jennifer never considered her own son a danger to anyone. [8]

In a groundbreaking decision, the jury found Jennifer Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The decision raises important legal questions: is this how society is going to start holding people accountable for the problem of gun abuse? Legal scholars argue that it is risky to make parents criminally responsible for teenagers’ actions because such moves would contradict the U.S.  bedrock principle that one is only legally responsible for their own actions. After all, is this ruling asking parents to be more aware of and responsible for their children than is possible? This difficult legal dilemma will continue to be discussed in James Crumbley’s trial, which is scheduled to start in early March 2024. [9]

Notes:

1. El, Nadine. 2024. “Jury finds Jennifer Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter in son's school shooting.” (ABC News, February 6, 2024). https://abcnews.go.com/US/jury-reaches-verdict-jennifer-crumbley-manslaughter-trial/story?id=106924349.

2. The Daily by The New York Times. 2024. “A Guilty Verdict for a Mass Shooter's Mother.” (The New York Times, February 6, 2024). https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/podcasts/the-daily/jennifer-crumbley-michig an.html.

3. Buczek, Joseph, Andres Gutierrez, Sara Powers, and Joe Buczek. 2024. “First day of testimony concludes in trial of Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Oxford High School shooter.” (CBS News, January 26, 2024). https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/watch-live-trial-of-jennifer-crumbley-moth er-of-oxford-high-school-shooter-gets-underway/.

4. (The Daily, The New York Times 2024)

5. Guevara, Selina, and Erik Ortiz. 2024. “Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Ethan Crumbley, found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in son's school shooting.” (NBC News, February 6, 2024). https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jennifer-crumbley-trial-verdict-rcna1369 37.

6. (The Daily, The New York Times 2024)

7. (NBC News, 2024)

8. (The Daily, The New York Times 2024)

9. Levenson, Eric. 2024. “Jennifer Crumbley trial: What the conviction of the Michigan school shooter’s mother means for the father.” (CNN, February 10, 2024). https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/10/us/jennifer-crumbley-guilty-james-crumbley-trial /index.html.

Bibliography:

Buczek, Joseph, Andres Gutierrez, Sara Powers, and Joe Buczek. 2024. “First day of testimony concludes in trial of Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Oxford High School shooter.” CBS News, January 26, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/watch-live-trial-of-jennifer-crumbley-mother-of-oxford-high-school-shooter-gets-underway/.

El, Nadine. 2024. “Jury finds Jennifer Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter in son's school shooting.” ABC News, February 6, 2024. https://abcnews.go.com/US/jury-reaches-verdict-jennifer-crumbley-manslaughter-trial/story?id=106924349.

Guevara, Selina, and Erik Ortiz. 2024. “Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Ethan Crumbley, found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in son's school shooting.” NBC News, February 6, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jennifer-crumbley-trial-verdict-rcna136937.

Levenson, Eric. 2024. “Jennifer Crumbley trial: What the conviction of the Michigan school shooter’s mother means for the father.” CNN, February 10, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/10/us/jennifer-crumbley-guilty-james-crumbley-trial/index.html.

The Daily by The New York Times. 2024. “A Guilty Verdict for a Mass Shooter's Mother.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/podcasts/the-daily/jennifer-crumbley-michigan.html.