OXFORD, Mich. – A detective lieutenant took the stand Wednesday at the trial of the Oxford High School shooter’s mother, and offered new details about the first search warrant carried out at her house on the day of the shooting.
Detective Lt. Sam Marzban, with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, told the court on Wednesday, Jan. 31, that he was part of the team carrying out a search warrant at the Oxford shooter’s home on Nov. 30, 2021. Authorities were there to search for any evidence related to the mass shooting in which a student murdered four fellow students and injured seven other people.
The shooter’s mother, Jennifer Crumbley is on trial for four involuntary manslaughter charges related to the shooting. Here’s what Marzban said during her trial on Wednesday, Jan. 31. (Click here to watch the proceedings live.)
Concerning texts on shooter’s phone
Marzban testified Wednesday that he was part of the law enforcement response to the shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. The detective lt. said he took part in the primary search and evacuation of the school, and then helped identify two of the shooting victims: Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling.
Afterward, the detective was preparing a search warrant for the shooter’s home using a laptop at the school. Around that time, Marzban said he looked at the shooter’s cellphone, and saw there were recent text messages visible on the lock screen.
Without unlocking the phone, the following texts were visible on the screen:
- From Jennifer Crumbley, “Mom”: [Shooter’s name] don’t do it
- From “Dad”: [Shooter’s name] call me now
- From a phone number not associated with a contact to shooter: did u get shot
Marzban told prosecutors that the texts appeared to be received about an hour or so after the school shooting occurred. The detective said he was particularly concerned about the text message sent by the mother to the shooter at that time, especially after learning the parents were at the school earlier that day.
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Search warrant executed at family home
Marzban said he arrived at the family’s home about an hour after detectives began searching the home. The parents were excused for a brief period, and when they arrived back at the home, the detective asked them both to sit in the living room while the search continued, he testified.
Marzban said the parents asked for a list of items being seized amid the search, and the detective provided a copy of the search warrant and what was included in the court order. It was then that the detective told the parents that he would be taking their cellphones.
Jennifer Crumbley “was not happy” about the seizure of their cellphones, Marzban testified. She “did not want to give me her phone. She seemed irritated about it,” he said.
After explaining it was necessary, and after the father suggested they hand the phones over, the cellphones were turned over to Marzban. However, the mother did not want to give the detective the password to her phone, he said. Marzban allegedly told Jennifer Crumbley that they could bypass the phone’s security under the search warrant, and that they’d unlock it either way, and she ultimately gave him the password.
The mother’s cellphone has been an item of importance throughout her trial, as she at least communicated with her son, her boss, and an acquaintance surrounding the shooting.
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The mother expressed concern about not being able to contact people and not having access to important phone numbers. Marzban testified that he suggested the parents purchase prepaid cellphones in the meantime, and provide their new phone numbers to law enforcement. He also allowed Jennifer Crumbley to use her cellphone to write down important phone numbers, he said.
Evidence shows the parents ultimately did obtain TracFones, and then later obtained another set of actual cellphones. The new phone numbers were not provided to Marzban directly, he testified, but he didn’t know if those numbers were given to someone else with the department.
---> Photos: Inside Oxford shooter’s home on day of, day after shooting
‘Odd’ statement from mother
While interacting with the parents at the house during the police search, Marzban said Jennifer Crumbley made an odd comment.
The parents didn’t ask any questions about the shooting, Marzban said, but he did offer some information to them. The parents were familiar with some of the facts of the case, having already stopped at the police substation after the shooting.
Marzban said he told the parents that several children were dead at the school. He also told them that the shooting was circulating in the national news, and that the U.S. president had addressed it by that time.
In response, Jennifer Crumbley said, “Lives were lost today, and he’s gonna have to suffer,” the detective testified. Marzban said he had previously spoken to parents and relatives of someone who had killed others, and that he felt Crumbley’s response was “odd.”
Specifically, the use of the word “suffer” struck him as odd, he said.
---> Live updates: Day 5 of trial for mother of Oxford High School shooter (Jan. 31)