ROYAL OAK, Mich. (Scripps News Detroit) — Eight months after being sentenced 10-15 years in prison on involuntary manslaughter charges, Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford school shooter, is challenging her conviction and is hoping to get her sentence overturned.
In a press release, Crumbley’s attorney, Michael Dezsi, claims that his client’s convictions “stem from a trial riddled with legal errors where key evidence was withheld, and cooperation agreements were peddled and suppressed to secure testimony for the prosecution to convict an individual who committed no crime.”
Jennifer Crumbley walks into the Oakland County courtroom of Judge Cheryl Matthews before being found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024 in Pontiac, Mich. (Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP, Pool)
Crumbley’s son opened fire at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, killing four students – Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling – and injuring six other students and a teacher.
“The prosecution has tried to mold us into the type of parents society wants to believe are so horrible that only a school or mass shooter could be bred from,” Crumbley said in her sentencing in April. “This is a very unfair assumption to have. We were good parents, we were the average family,” she said.
Deszi is also claiming that two of the prosecution’s key witnesses entered cooperation agreements to testify against Crumbley, and that the defense was unaware of this agreement, which denies her right to a fair trial.
With the assistance of law student’s from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Deszi’s office formally requested that Crumbley’s convictions be thrown out. This comes in the form of a 34-page legal brief filed with the court.
“There’s a reason why no parent in America has ever been held responsible for the criminal acts of their child in relation to a school shooting. It is because Mrs. Crumbley committed no crime. This case should be concerning for parents everywhere,” Deszi concludes in the statement.
A representative for the Oakland County prosecutor’s office sent the following statements from Prosecutor Karen McDonald and Chief Assistant David Williams to Scripps News Detroit:
“Parents everywhere are worried. But they are not worried about being prosecuted, they are worried about their kids being shot at school. James and Jennifer Crumbley are the rare, grossly negligent exception, and twenty-four jurors unanimously agreed they are responsible for the deaths of Hana, Madisyn, Tate, and Justin. Holding them accountable for their role is one important step in making our schools safer.” – Karen McDonald
“In response to the arguments in Defendant’s Motion regarding witness testimony. Statement from Chief Assistant David Williams: “No witnesses were given anything for their testimony, and there was no immunity – these witnesses testified without any promises or protection whatsoever. The Michigan Court of Appeals has already reviewed the legal issues raised by Jennifer Crumbley and rejected them. Where there are egregious facts like these – where two parents ignored the obvious signs that their son was in crisis, bought him a gun and failed to secure it, and then failed to disclose the existence of the gun or take their son home when he drew out his plans, including writing “blood everywhere” with a picture of a gun and a body with bleeding bullet wounds, they can and should be prosecuted. ” For ease of reference please see the attached opinion from the Michigan Court of Appeals, noting the statement on page 16 that reads: “Defendants’ actions and inactions were inexorably intertwined with EC’s actions, i.e., with the intervening cause. This connection exists not simply because of the parent-child relationship but also because of the facts showing that defendants were actively involved in EC’s mental state remaining untreated, that they provided him with the weapon used to kill the victims, and that they refused to remove him from the situation that led directly to the shootings.” – David Williams
Earlier this year, juries convicted Jennifer and her husband, James, following weeks of witness testimony and closing arguments. The parents had separate trials.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Detroit, an E.W. Scripps Company.
