Jury reaches verdict in Jennifer Crumbley's Oxford school shooting case
On Day 2 of deliberations, the jury in the historic Jennifer Crumbley school shooting trial told the judge shortly after 1 p.m. it had reached a verdict.
The announcement in court, which the Free Press will livestream, is expected at about 1:30.
The jury deliberated Tuesday morning without asking any questions and worked through its lunch break.
The panel of six men and six women deliberated for seven hours on Monday, and returned at 9 a.m. Tuesday to continue contemplating the fate of the first parent in America charged in a mass school shooting.
Crumbley, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter, is accused of causing the deaths of four Oxford High School students who were killed by her son during the Nov. 30, 2021, massacre that also left seven others injured, including a teacher. The then 15-year-old shooter used a gun that his parents had bought him to carry out the rampage. His father, James, is also charged and goes to trial in March.
A question about how the shooter obtained the gun surfaced during Day 1 of deliberations, with the jury asking whether it can infer anything about the case based on the fact that the shooter didn't testify, or any other witnesses who could explain how he got the gun.
The judge said jurors could consider only evidence that was introduced.
Ethan Crumbley has pleaded guilty to all charges stemming from his rampage and is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The prosecution alleges the Crumbleys ignored a son who was struggling with mental health issues, and bought him a gun instead of getting him help — the same gun the boy used to carry out the rampage.
Prosecutors have given the jury two theories from which they can pick in order to convict Jennifer Crumbley:
One, that the mother stored the gun in a manner that gave her son access to the weapon, and allowed him to kill four students.
Two, the mother failed in her duty to control her son, knowing she could do so, and therefore failed to protect others from being harmed by him.
Jennifer Crumbley, who took the stand in her own defense, testified that the gun at issue was not a gift for their son to use as he wished, but that it was secured in the parents' bedroom and that their son was only allowed to use it at a shooting range.
Crumbley also testified that her husband was the gun enthusiast, not her, and he was responsible for storing the gun at issue. According to trial testimony, the gun was hidden in an armoire. The bullets were hidden under jeans in another drawer. And the key to the gun lock was hidden in a beer stein.
Jennifer Crumbley also testified that she never saw any signs that her son was mentally ill or needed therapy, other than he was anxious over his school work and future after graduation. She also testified that she never saw her son as a threat to others, and never imagined or knew that her son would shoot up his school.
School officials had summoned the parents to Oxford High the morning of the shooting because of a violent drawing of a gun the teen drew on a math worksheet. While the educators testified that they hoped the parents would take Ethan Crumbley home that day, they did not insist and did not see the student as a threat to the school. They did not know the boy had access to a gun that in fact was in his backpack that the dean of students brought from his classroom to the office, but did not search.
The courtroom is filled with mostly media during deliberations, though at one point Tuesday morning, a woman walked into the courtroom and told Jennifer Crumbley's lawyer that she is praying for the defendant.
The victims' families have not been in the courtroom yet today, though several relatives of the victims attended the trial.
The Free Press is in the courtroom and will livestream the verdict when jurors return.
Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jennifer Crumbley jury deliberates involuntary manslaughter charges
