Prosecutor embarrasses James, Jennifer Crumbley in wild new court filing
James and Jennifer Crumbley, charged with involuntary manslaughter in their son's killing spree a year ago at Oxford High School, say they have a friend who is willing to put them up if they are released on bond, but the prosecution argues that friend isn't exactly trustworthy — given what it discovered in a background check.
The Sanilac County friend, referred to as B.J. in court filings, has a checkered past, including lying about being transgender so that he could enter a women's locker room and "make threatening statements," according to a new court filing that seeks to keep the parents of the Oxford school shooter locked up.
"B.J. is not a responsible member of the community," Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast wrote in a court document filed Tuesday that argues against releasing the Crumbleys on bond.
Hours after the prosecution filed its request, Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews issued an order stating that she did not have the authority to decide the Crumbleys' bond request, saying it's a matter for the Michigan Court of Appeals, where the fate of the case is now pending.
Meanwhile, according to the prosecutor's filings, here is what makes B.J. a bad option for housing the Crumbleys as they continue to fight for their release:
In May, the Port Huron police filed a harassment complaint against B.J, alleging he faked being transgender to get into a women's locker room to make threatening statements. He wore a "transwoman" T-shirt to the gym and asked a front desk employee which bathroom he could use. Then he became upset because he was "tired of this woke s---." No charges were filed.
In 2020, a bench warrant for his arrest was active for nearly six months over his failure to appear at a creditor's exam in Sanilac County Circuit Court.
In 2017, he unsuccessfully tried to get permission to use his home as a large-scale marijuana grow facility, acknowledging that he has been growing 72 pot plants on his property for a period of a year.
B.J. has expressed "extremist views" on Facebook, including "the virus is killing people left and write," "The Biden administration is trafficking children for sex and cheap labor" and "Ye said the Jews control the money so the IRS freezes his bank accounts."
More: Oxford school officials: Ethan Crumbley's parents never refused to take him home
More: Oxford school staffers break silence on what happened as the shooting unfolded
Sanilac County: Please don't send the Crumbleys here
It is not known whether the Crumbleys' lawyers vetted B.J. before asking a judge to consider him as an option for taking in the Crumbleys should they be released on bond. Defense attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman declined to comment as they and the prosecution are under a court order that bars them from publicly discussing the parents' novel criminal case. The Crumbleys are the first parents in America to be charged in a mass school shooting. Their son Ethan pleaded guilty in October to killing four and injuring seven in the rampage.
The prosecution also states that it has reached out to law enforcement in Sanilac County officials, and that "They don't want these defendants housed in their jurisdiction." Moreover, it argues, B.J. is a concealed pistol license holder, which would violate the Crumbleys' bond conditions that prohibit them from accessing weapons.
The prosecution disclosed all this as the Crumbleys try to persuade a judge for the sixth time to release them on a lower bond and with GPS tethers. They maintain they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community.
But prosecutors argue they are a flight risk, and should stay in jail pending the outcome of their case.
Status of the Crumbley parents' case
The Crumbleys are being held on $500,000 bond on involuntary manslaughter charges.
They were scheduled to go to trial in January until the Michigan Supreme Court last month temporarily suspended the trial and ordered the appeals court to review the case and decide whether there was enough evidence to bind the couple over for trial on the charges.
Prosecutors allege the Crumbleys ignored a son with mental health issues, and instead of getting him help, they bought him a gun — which he used in the Nov. 30, 2021, massacre. Prosecutors also allege the parents could have prevented the tragedy had they disclosed to school officials that their son had access to a gun when they were summoned to the office on the morning of the shooting over a troubling drawing Ethan had made in math class.
The parents argue they never knew their son would carry out a mass shooting, and maintain they had the weapon locked in a secure drawer. But Ethan Crumbley contradicted that in October when he pleaded guilty to murdering his classmates, saying the gun was not locked. He faces up to life in prison with no chance at parole when he is sentenced next year.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Prosecutor embarrasses James, Jennifer Crumbley in new court filing
