Judge rejects James, Jennifer Crumbley request: Jury will see video of your son's rampage
To the chagrin of James and Jennifer Crumbley, a judge has ruled that two eyewitnesses to their son's mass shooting at Oxford High School will be allowed to testify at their upcoming trials, and, the jury will be allowed to see video footage of the rampage.
The witnesses are a teacher who was shot in the arm by the Crumbleys' son, and an assistant principal who encountered the shooter in the hallway during his rampage, and tried to save the life of one of his victims, who did not make it.
The Crumbleys had sought to keep the witnesses from testifying, and keep the video out of trial, arguing the footage and witness testimony are irrelevant to their case and potentially prejudicial. Specifically, they maintain that their charges involve their actions before the shooting, not during, and that what happened inside the school that day could unfairly inflame the passions of the jury.
"All evidence offered by the parties is 'prejudicial' to some extent, but the fear of prejudice does not generally render the evidence inadmissible," Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews wrote in her Thursday ruling, concluding the video and eyewitness testimony are "relevant" to proving the crime alleged in this case: involuntary manslaughter.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are accused of causing the deaths of Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17. All were killed by their son, who carried out the shooting using a gun that his parents had bought him as an early Christmas present. Seven others were also injured in the shooting, including a teacher.
More: Judge orders separate trials for James, Jennifer Crumbley in Oxford H.S. shooting case
Prosecutors allege the parents, who will have separate trials, ignored a troubled son who was spiraling out of control, but instead of getting him help they bought him a gun — the same one he used in the massacre. They are also accused of failing to notify school officials about that gun when given the opportunity.
Matthews, meanwhile, did set some limits regarding the eyewitness testimony. Specifically, the judge prohibited the witnesses from testifying about any aid they gave to victims, or discuss any suffering or emotional trauma they have endured, maintaining such testimony "is not relevant to prove the elements ... of involuntary manslaughter."
Rather, Matthews has ordered that the eyewitness testimony will focus on the following: the identification of the shooter and the gun that was used in the massacre; the location of the weapon and any observations the witnesses made of the shooter, who carried out his crime using a gun his parents had bought him as an early Christmas present.
"The court will allow testimony from (the eyewitnesses) to the extent that it is probative on whether there was 'killing of another,' " Matthews writes, concluding the eyewitness testimony is relevant to the charges in this case — involuntary manslaughter — and that the prosecution has a right to present "probative" evidence as it bears the burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
In this case, the stakes are especially high as the prosecution is trying to do what has never been done before in America: hold parents responsible for a mass school shooting.
Prosecutors have accused the Crumbleys of ignoring a troubled son who was spiraling out of control, and instead of getting him help they bought him a gun — the same one he used in the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting at Oxford High School. Four students died and seven others were injured, including the teacher who will testify on behalf of the prosecution at the Crumbleys' trials.
The prosecution has noted that the two eyewitnesses it will be calling will be the only shooting witnesses to testify at the Crumbleys' trial, despite the fact there were 1,800 witnesses that day.
The witnesses who will testify against the Crumbleys are: Assistant Principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall, who tried to save Tate Myre’s life in the hallway, where she found him lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the back of his head, and gave him mouth to mouth as she waited for paramedics.
“It was crushing. I had to help him. I had to save him, for his mom,” Gibson-Marshall testified during a summer hearing that brought many in the courtroom to tears. “I just kept talking to him. I told him that I love him, that I needed him to hang with me.”
Gibson-Marshall also encountered Crumbley during his rampage that day. She saw him from a distance, walked toward him and said: 'Are you OK, what's going on?' "
Crumbley didn’t respond. He kept walking, so she tended to the student on the ground — Tate Myre.
Jurors will also hear from teacher Molly Darnell, who locked eyes with the gunman before he opened fire on her, striking her arm, about 6 inches from her heart.
"I love you. Active shooter," Darnell texted her husband that day. She would eventually quit her job at Oxford, and later testify at a hearing involving the shooter's punishment: "Do you know how hard it is to heal from something like this?"
The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to all his crimes and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
His parents have been jailed for more than two years now on $500,000 bond each. They are facing separate trials, with one scheduled to begin Jan. 23, though it has not yet been decided who will go on trial first. If convicted, they each face up to 15 years in prison.
Contact Tresa Baldas:tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Judge: Jury will see Oxford school shooting video in Crumbley trials
