(WWJ) – James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the accused Oxford High School shooter, are asking for their trial to be moved out of Oakland County, claiming they won’t be able to get a fair trial.
In a court filing on Monday the lawyers for the parents made the request for the trial to be moved – or for the jurors to come from elsewhere.
The lawyers argue the shooting had a devastating impact on the community where the jurors would come from, making it too difficult to get an unbiased jury.
“The school shooting of Oxford High School, quite frankly, hits too close to home for the people of Oxford and Oakland County," defense lawyers Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman wrote in a late Monday filing, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press.
"Mr. and Mrs Crumbley have been absolutely slaughtered in the pretrial publicity and court of public opinion even far more than (their son) who actually committed the premeditated murders," the defense lawyers wrote. "The community's reaction is viciously unfavorable to the Crumbleys."
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The Crumbley parents are each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, as the prosecution argues they ignored warning signs from their son, Ethan, and instead of getting him treatment, allegedly bought him a gun and didn’t restrict access to it.
The defense has maintained the gun was locked in a secure place.
Ethan Crumbley is facing numerous charges, including terrorism and first-degree murder, for the mass shooting on