Defense gets new bond hearing for parents of Oxford school shooting suspect
The parents of the Oxford High School shooting suspect will spend the holidays in jail, though their lawyers are preparing arguments to have their detention revisited as both remain locked up on $500,000 bonds.
At a probable cause conference Tuesday, defense attorney Shannon Smith said she would be filing a motion with the court in about a week involving the bond that has been set for the parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for their alleged roles in the Nov. 30 mass shooting that left four students dead and seven others injured, including a teacher. According to prosecutors, the Crumbleys four days earlier bought the gun that was used in the massacre as an early Christmas present for their son, Ethan Crumbley, who is now facing first-degree murder and terrorism charges for his alleged actions that day.
Shackled at the hands and feet, the parents appeared in 52-3 District Court in Rochester on Tuesday as Judge Julie Nicholson postponed their preliminary examination to Feb. 8 to give both sides more time to sort through the massive volume of discovery, or evidence.
The couple said very little, beyond confirming that they agreed to have their preliminary exam postponed, and that they wanted to share the same lawyers. They did not sit side by side, but rather were separated by their attorneys and occasionally glanced at one another.
The Crumbleys and their son are all housed in the Oakland County Jail, though none have any communication with the other. A bond hearing for the parents has been set for Jan. 7.
James and Jennifer Crumbley's brief court appearances came one day after a judge refused to move their son from an adult jail into a juvenile facility, despite pleas from his defense team that the teen's emotional and mental well-being may be harmed in the adult facility.
"This is someone who has never been in trouble before. This is not someone who has a history of assaulting kids, or any other negative contact with his peers. This one isolated incident is all that we are looking at here today," Ethan Crumbley's lawyer, Paulette Loftin, argued during his hearing Monday.
Her comments drew a sharp rebuke from Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast: "Calling this an isolated incident, frankly, does not do it justice. This was a mass murder at a school, judge. It was planned. It was premeditated."
The judge said that considering the circumstances of the case, it was appropriate to keep Ethan Crumbley in the county jail.
The defense, though, also argued that Ethan Crumbley could hear the voices of adult inmates, which is a violation of a federal statute that says minors housed in adult prisons or jails should not be able to see or hear any of the adult inmates.
The prosecution assured the judge that jail officials would be contacted to make sure the teenager is not within sights or sounds of the adult inmates.
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Ethan Crumbley, 15, has been charged with first-degree murder and terrorism causing death stemming from the shooting.
The high school sophomore is accused of fatally shooting Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Justin Shilling, 17.
Jennifer and James Crumbley each have been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Each involuntary manslaughter count carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison upon conviction. According to prosecutors, the parents did not have the gun properly secured, though the defense disputes that.
All three Crumbleys have pleaded not guilty.
Separately, a civil lawsuit seeking $100 million has been filed against the school district on behalf of a student who was shot in the neck and survived, and her younger sister who watched her sibling get shot.
The lawsuit alleges that the school district put students in harm's way by ignoring signs of a troubled teen who was allowed to return to class after exhibiting troubling behavior in class, both on the day of the shooting and the day before.
According to police and the prosecution, Ethan Crumbley was seen in class browsing for ammunition on his cellphone a day before the massacre. The next day, he was found with a note depicting a semiautomatic handgun with the words, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me," and a sketch of someone bleeding.
His parents were summoned, and a meeting with counselors and their son followed. The parents resisted taking him out of school. He was sent back to class with his backpack, which police said they believe contained the gun used in the deadly shooting.
The backpack was never searched.
According to school officials, Ethan Crumbley explained that the drawing of the gun and blood was part of a video game design, and that counselors did not believe he might harm others based on his "behavior, responses and demeanor," so they let him return to class.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Parents of Oxford school shooting suspect get new bond hearing
