OXFORD, Mich. – After seven days of testimony, the trial for the mother of the Oxford High School shooter came to an end. The decision is now in the hands of the jury.
Prosecutors introduced 21 witnesses throughout the trial while the defense only introduced a single witness: Jennifer Crumbley herself. Both sides gave their closing arguments on Friday. The jury was instructed to not discuss or read about the case over the weekend. Deliberations will begin on Monday, Feb. 5.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are both facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with their son’s Nov. 30, 2021, mass shooting. The charges stem from the deaths of 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.
The shooter was sentenced in December to life in prison without the chance of parole.
---> Prosecutor to jury: Think about what Jennifer Crumbley knew, but didn’t say
Full coverage of each day can be found in the following links: Day one, day two, day three, day four, day five, day six, day seven.
Footage played from arrest, witness testifies
A Detroit business owner who identified where James and Jennifer Crumbley were staying while police were searching for them took the stand on Wednesday.
Luke Kirtley, owner of coffee consultancy and roaster Coffehaus in Detroit, called 911 at 10:43 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2021, and told the dispatcher that he saw the Crumbleys’ vehicle in the parking lot. He also said that Jennifer Crumbley was sitting on the ground beside the car.
---> Read the full story, watch the surveillance video, and listen to the 911 call here.
Privileged texts admitted into evidence
On Friday, the judge allowed privileged texts between Jennifer Crumbley and her attorney to be admitted into evidence.
Local 4′s Cassidy Johncox reports: Oakland County prosecutors argued Thursday, Feb. 1 that Jennifer Crumbley waived her attorney-client privilege while taking the stand in her own defense. Crumbley was testifying about when she and her husband were arrested in Detroit in 2021 following a statewide manhunt that ensued a few days after the Nov. 30, 2021, mass shooting.
Prosecutors have long alleged that both Jennifer and her husband were attempting to flee from the four involuntary manslaughter charges brought against them midday on Dec. 3, 2021. The couple were found lying on a mattress in an art studio in Detroit after a business owner, who has an office in the same building, identified their car and called 911.
Video shown at Crumbley’s trial this week showed a SWAT team using a steel ram to break into the suite, and subsequently arresting the parents. While on the stand, Crumbley testified that she and her husband had taken multiple Xanax pills to help them sleep, and went to sleep around 11 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2021. She said they were asleep when police arrived at the building, and had no idea what was going on until they were arrested.
But something Crumbley said during her testimony opened the door for prosecutors to get new, privileged evidence admitted into court, which prosecutors said indicate Crumbley was lying about the timeline.
When being questioned by her attorney Shannon Smith on Thursday, Crumbley specifically mentioned her phone interactions with her attorney. Prosecutors argued Thursday, and again Friday, that those statements meant the defendant waived her attorney-client privilege, even if inadvertently, related to the topic of them allegedly fleeing from authorities.
In court, that attorney-client privilege is considered waived if the privileged information is disclosed.
---> Read the full story here and see the testimony that sparked the debate.
Lawyers argue about tears during Crumbley’s testimony
Local 4′s Derick Hutchinson reports: The Oakland County prosecutor and the defense attorney for Jennifer Crumbley got into an argument in the courtroom over “sobbing” during evidence that showed video of the Oxford High School shooting.
The dispute took place between Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald and defense attorney Shannon Smith after the prosecution called assistant principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall to the stand.
Gibson-Marshall talked about walking through the hallways and crossing paths with the shooter near an injured Tate Myre, who was killed in the shooting.
“Your Honor, is there any way we could have a minute?” Smith asked after the court watched surveillance video from the hallways of Oxford High School during the shooting. “I’m so sorry, can we just have a minute, like a break or -- could we have a 10-minute break, please?”
Judge Cheryl A. Matthews granted the break and dismissed the jury from the room. Before Oakland County deputies could escort Jennifer Crumbley from the room, McDonald asked to briefly go back on the record.
---> Find the full article here
Affair with witness introduced in trial
Local 4′s Derick Hutchinson reports: Jennifer Crumbley’s extramarital affair with a witness at her involuntary manslaughter trial is now fair game to be brought up in court after a heated exchange between attorneys.
Judge Cheryl Matthews had previously ruled that Crumbley’s affair was inadmissible during the trial, but on Wednesday -- the fifth day of the trial -- a line of questioning from defense attorney Shannon Smith changed that ruling.
During her cross examination, Smith pointed out that Brian Meloche, a friend of Jennifer Crumbley’s from high school, had three separate interviews with police about the Crumbleys, and Smith said his statements changed over the course of the three interviews.
Smith suggested that Meloche’s opinion on Jennifer Crumbley had changed because he felt that he was being intimidated by officers. Meloche would later tell the judge that he perceived “veiled threats” from his interviewed.
“They threatened him about his job, his pension,” Smith said of police interviewing Meloche.
Meloche said he worried that the extramarital relationship would become public if he said things that helped the Crumbleys in those interviews.
Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast objected during this line of questioning and said Smith was very close to opening the door to topics that had been deemed inadmissible.
Smith responded that she was happy to open that door.
“I would like the door to be opened,” Smith said. “I would like to fully question this witness.”
Matthews dismissed the jury from the room, and both sides got into a heated exchange over Smith’s cross examination. Keast said Smith was implying that authorities intimidated a witness. He said he would need to use some of the information that was previously inadmissible during his redirect questioning.
The judge agreed that Smith had opened that door. Matthews asked Jennifer Crumbley if she was OK with her lawyer deciding to admit information about the affair.
---> Read the full report right here.
Jennifer Crumbley testimony includes family photos, texts
---> Related: Mother: ‘Don’t do it’ text sent to Oxford shooter because she thought he’d kill himself, not others
During her testimony, photos from Jennifer Crumbley’s Facebook page were shown to the jury. The 14-page exhibit showed pictures that the defense said would give the jury an idea of the topics Crumbley would usually post about on Facebook.
The judge allowed pictures dating back to 2020. Crumbley’s attorney said the photos are from Christmas, family vacations, camping trips, holidays, horses, gardening, at-home work, cooking, and a bathroom remodel.
Crumbley also testified about a photo she posted of the gun on Facebook, where she described it as her son’s Christmas gift. She said the shooter did a lot of research before they purchased the gun.
---> Read more about her testimony in the day 6 full updates article.
During her testmiony, Crumbley also said that text messages from her son regarding ghosts and hallucinations were just jokes and not a reason to be concerned.
Local 4′s Cassidy Johncox reports: Prosecutors have shared text message evidence between the shooter and his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, at her involuntary manslaughter trial in their attempt to prove the mother was grossly negligent toward her son, and therefore partly responsible for the killings he carried out. Some of those texts included messages from the shooter to the mother, in which he said their house was haunted, clothes were flying off shelves, and that he was having hallucinations and seeing demons.
Prosecutors have argued that the parents should have gotten their son professional help, pointing to these messages, among other behavior. But while serving as a witness in her trial on Thursday, Feb. 1, Crumbley said she didn’t think her son needed help, and that those texts were just jokes.
- Defense attorney: When you look back at these texts now, and you see that there’s ‘a demon throwing bowls’ and things like that, now looking back, do you think, ‘Oh, my gosh! He had mental issues?’”
- Crumbley: No.
- Defense attorney: What do you think was going on?
- Crumbley: ... That it was just him messing around. He only did it when we weren’t at home.
Throughout her testimony, Crumbley said her son had a sarcastic sense of humor, and frequently sent text messages meant to mess with his parents. She also said he had a Ouija board that he played with for some time, and that he was convinced the family’s old house was haunted.
“We called it our house ghost,” Crumbley said. Each of them reportedly had names for the “ghost.”
The mother did express that her son experienced a period of depression in 2021, particularly after the loss of a grandparent, a family pet, and because his grades were poor. When asked if she thought the shooter needed mental health treatment, she said “no.”
The shooter’s then-best friend, who was the only friend he spent time with outside of school, according to Crumbley, moved away abruptly in October 2021. Crumbley said her son took it hard and appeared more sad than usual -- but when asked if that loss made the mother feel like she needed to get her son counseling, she again responded “no.”
---> Read the full report here.
School counselor takes stand, discusses day of shooting
On Monday, a school counselor took the stand and dicussed a meeting involving the parents and the shooter on the day of the mass shooting.
Local 4′s Cassidy Johncox reports: School counselor Shawn Hopkins, who is currently on leave through the end of the school year, was called to the stand Monday, Jan. 29 to testify at the trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the school shooter. Both the shooter’s mother and father are accused of failing to take steps to prevent the Nov. 30, 2021, mass shooting, and are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter each.
In the more than two years since the shooter murdered four students and injured seven other people, prosecutors have shared much of their catalogue of evidence in their cases against the shooter and his parents. Part of that evidence included information about a meeting called by a high school counselor on the morning of the shooting because he was concerned about the shooter and his wellbeing.
Some details about that meeting, which was attended by both of the shooter’s parents, had already been made to the public. However, Hopkins’ testimony on Monday offered some new insight on what exactly happened that morning.
---> Read the full story here.
Click here for full coverage on the Jennifer Crumbley trial.