The parents of the Michigan teenager accused in the murders of four students at Oxford High School were given a $US1 million ($1.4million) bond by a judge. This was just hours after police claimed they had been caught hiding in a Detroit building.
James and Jennifer Crumbley pleaded not guilty to the four counts of involuntary murder against them at a Zoom hearing.
Jennifer Crumbley was sobbing and struggling to answer the judge’s questions at points. James Crumbley shrugged when a prosecutor stated that their son had full access the gun used for the murders.
Judge Julie Nicholson set a bond of $714,000 for each parent and ordered GPS monitoring if they wanted to be released. She also agreed with the prosecutors that they were a flight risk.
The Crumbleys’ defense attorneys argued that they did not intend to flee, and that they had made plans to meet with their lawyers in the early hours of the morning.
Attorney Shannon Smith accused the prosecutors of “cherry-picking” facts to release publicly. This included an accusation that their teenage son had unlimited access to the handgun his father bought for him days before the shooting.
“Our clients are just like everyone else,” Ms Smith stated, adding that the gun was “locked”.
She didn’t provide more detail during Saturday’s hearing.
Karen McDonald, Oakland County Prosecutor, filed involuntary murder charges against the Crumbleys Friday. They were accused of failing to intervene on Friday despite being presented with a drawing of a chilling message — “blood all over” — which was found at the boy’s desk.
The Crumbleys were guilty of “egregious” acts. They bought a gun on Black Friday for Ethan Crumbley and made it available to him. Ms McDonald stated that they resisted his removal from school after he was summoned.
Since Friday afternoon, authorities had been searching for the couple.
US Marshals announced late Friday that they would pay a reward up to $US10,000 ($14,000 each) for any information leading to their arrest.
Ms Smith, Crumbleys’ lawyer, said Friday that the couple had left town earlier in this week “for their safety” and would be returning home to face charges.
Ms Smith claimed that they had been in touch via phone and text on Friday night and blamed prosecutors who failed to communicate with Mariell Lehman, her defence attorney.
She said, “Our clients were absolutely going in themselves; it was just logistics.”
Ms. McDonald’s said that the couple had taken $US4,000 ($5,700), from an ATM in Rochester Hills on Friday morning. This ATM is not far from the courthouse, where they should have been appearing that afternoon.
She said, “These aren’t people we can be sure will return to the court on their own.”
Details are made more clear
Ms. McDonald provided the most detailed account of events leading to the shooting at Oxford High School in north Detroit, approximately 50 km away.
Investigators say that Ethan Crumbley (15 years old) emerged from a restroom with a gun and shot students in the hallway .
He is being charged as an adult for murder, terrorism, and other crimes.
Michigan law allows for the filing of an involuntary murder charge against parents if it is believed that someone contributed to the situation.
Experts say that parents in the US are not often charged in school shootings involving children. However, most minors obtain guns from their parent or relative.
School officials became worried about the younger Crumbley Monday, the day before the shooting. Ms McDonald stated that a teacher had seen him looking for ammunition on his smartphone.
Jennifer Crumbley was reached out and she sent her son a text message saying “Lol. You’re not crazy. According to the prosecutor, you must learn to not be caught.”
A teacher discovered a note on Ethan’s desk Tuesday and took a photograph. The note was a drawing showing a gun pointed at the words “The thoughts will not stop.” “Help me,” Ms McDonald’s said.
She also saw a drawing of an unidentified bullet and said that it was above the words: “Blood everywhere!”
A person was seen between the gun and bullet who looked like he had been shot twice, and is now bleeding.
According to the prosecution, he also wrote “My life is futile” and “The entire world is dead.”
Ethan’s parents were invited to a school meeting. They were instructed to place him in counselling within 48 hours.
Ms McDonald stated that the Crumbleys did not ask their son about his gun or to check his backpack. She also said that they “resisted” the idea of their son leaving school.
Instead, the teen went back to school and the shooting took place.
