Jennifer Crumbley lawyer pushes evidence shooter was watching horror movies during texts

For more than two years, the prosecution has portrayed the Oxford High School shooter as a troubled teen who was spiraling downward, hallucinating and begging his parents for help, largely relying on texts he sent his friend late at night.

But what jurors in his mom’s historic case haven’t heard — and may not hear at all — is that the teen was sending these late-night texts to his friend while watching horror movies. At least that’s what he told a psychiatrist, according to court records and prior testimony.

Ethan Crumbley also allegedly told a psychiatrist that he lied to his friend when he texted that he asked his parents for help, and that they ignored him, according to court records.

But the jury in Jennifer Crumbley’s trial may not hear that, which has the mother's lawyer pleading for intervention.

“The texts from spring of 2021 where he talks to his friend about hallucinations must be put it into context. The texts were being sent late at night when the shooter was alone watching horror movies. This does not mean he is psychotic,” defense attorney Shannon Smith wrote in a new filing.

More: Watch live: New testimony in Jennifer Crumbley involuntary manslaughter trial

Smith is fighting to get previously disclosed details about the shooter's text messages admitted at trial as her client fights involuntary manslaughter charges in an unprecedented case that could send Jennifer Crumbley to prison for 15 years. Specifically, she wants the judge to order two psychiatrists to testify at the mom's trial, maintaining they have information that contradicts what Ethan Crumbley texted his friend at night in April 2021, when he wrote:

• "like I hear people talking to me, and see someone in the distance."

• "I actually asked my dad to take me to the doctor yesterday, but he just gave me some pills and told me to suck it up … it’s to the point where I’m asking to go to the doctor …. My mom laughed when I told her”

• "I’m having bad insomnia … and paranoia … I need help … I was thinking of calling 911 so I could go to the hospital … but then my parents would be really pissed."

• "I’m going to ask my parents to go to the doctor again … but this time I’m going to tell them about the voices … I’m mentally and physically dying”

Other texts to his mom describe a demon in the house

In addition to texts to his friend, Ethan Crumbley texted his mother about seeing demons in the house, though no evidence has been presented that he was watching horror movies then.

For example, on March 17, 2021, St. Patrick's Day, nine months before the shooting, the shooter texted his mom a series of texts while she was riding her horse.

He wrote: "Some wierd s* just happens and now I'm scared." "I got some videos." "And a picture of the demon." "It is throwing BOWLS." "I'm not joking it f*** up the kitchen."

Jennifer and James Crumbley, the first parents in America charged in a mass school shooting, are accused of causing the deaths of four students who were killed by her son in the Nov. 30, 2021, Oxford High School shooting. Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty and is sentenced to life in prison without parole. His father is to go on trial in March.

The central theme in the prosecution’s case is that the Crumbleys ignored a troubled son, and bought him a gun instead of getting him help — the gun he used in the rampage, which also injured six students and a teacher. In pursuing their case, the prosecution is relying, in part, on text messages the son sent to his friend in the spring of 2021, six months before the massacre.

Shooter wants psychiatric interviews kept out of trial

Jennifer Crumbley's lawyer believes these two psychiatrists can help her refute what's in those texts: Dr. Lisa Anacker, who evaluated the shooter, and Dr. Fariha Qadir, who treated the shooter while he was jailed.

However, the shooter is exercising his right to keep his medical records confidential, and any interviews he had with psychiatrists. That means they are off limits to testify in his mom's trial, so Smith is urging the judge to compel them to testify.

Both psychiatrists testified at the shooter’s Miller hearing, which is a proceeding to determine whether the shooter is eligible for a life without parole sentence. The judge concluded he was.Smith said she wants to question the psychiatrists only about information that was already discussed at the Miller hearing, including:

Anaker testified that the shooter “does not meet the statutory definition for someone who is mentally ill,” or the criteria for a “substantial disorder or mood specifically at the time of the shooting.”

“She can explain how active hallucination works and that the materials she reviewed do not support he was experiencing hallucinations at the time of the shooting or days prior to the shooting,” Smith writes, adding: “While there may be evidence of a “low mood,” anxiety or loneliness, going back to even spring of 2021, the shooter does not have major depressive disorder, which would require a degree of functional impairment that he did not have. This is based on the facts that the shooter was working several days a week, hanging out with his friend on a regular basis, and doing things that brought him pleasure like hobbies of coin collecting and model rocketry. “

Anacker also reviewed surveillance video of the shooting and in-car video when he was arrested.

“It was significant to Dr. Anacker after watching those videos that the shooter was calm, collected and communicating clearly with police and his parents. He answered questions relevantly and followed commands. There are no signs of psychosis, bizarre behavior, speech disorganization, and he was not responding to internal stimuli,” Smith writes.

As for Qadir, Smith said that psychiatrist diagnosed the shooter as depressed, but not psychotic — information she believes is helpful to the mom’s case.

“If Mrs. Crumbley is not allowed to present the testimony of the doctors as described … (she) will be hamstrung in her defense,” Smith wrote.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jennifer Crumbley's lawyer: Ethan texted while watching horror movies