Jury foreperson: Jennifer Crumbley was last adult with gun. That 'hammered it home'.
The jury foreperson in the historic involuntary manslaughter trial against Jennifer Crumbley opened up Tuesday, speaking with reporters about the case.
After 11 hours of deliberations, the jury found Jennifer Crumbley guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, concluding she is responsible for the deaths of four students murdered by her son in the 2021 massacre at Oxford High School.
In a brief interview, the forewoman, who declined to provide her name, discussed the daunting task of reaching a verdict in this highly emotional, sensational case that terrorized the still-grieving Oxford community.
The 26-year-old hairstylist and mother described the convictions as a "very difficult" decision.
"It wasn't an easy decision. Lives hung in the balance, and we took that very seriously," the woman said in an interview captured by NBC.
"I will say, both sides were well represented."
She stressed: "The thing that really hammered it home is that she was the last adult with the gun."
Though the jury forewoman did not elaborate, her comment about what "hammered it home" for the jury echoes what Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald stressed to the jury at the end of her closing arguments.
She urged the jury to remember the video of the Oxford shooter firing at a target at shooting range just a few days before the massacre. He was with his mom.
She reminded jurors of video they saw of Ethan Crumbley at the gun range, training.
“We actually saw the last day he was practicing to kill four of his classmates,” McDonald said. “And there was only one person with him, ladies and gentlemen, and her name is Jennifer Crumbley.”
In an interview Wednesday morning on NBC's "Today Show," the foreperson told anchor Savannah Guthrie that Jennifer Crumbley's testimony that she wouldn't do anything differently leading up to the shooting played a part in the jury's deliberations.
"It was repeated a lot in the deliberation room," she said. "I think that it was very upsetting to hear. I think that there were many small things that could have been done to prevent this."
The foreperson told Guthrie that she listened to Crumbley's testimony, "but once we went into deliberation, it became clear that she wasn't a super reliable witness in this case."
Jennifer Crumbley’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 9, where she faces a maximum of 15 years for each count.
Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to murdering four classmates and injuring seven other people, and is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. Those killed were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. Six other students and a teacher were injured.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jury foreperson in Jennifer Crumbley trial speaks
