ROCHESTER, Mich. (WWJ) -- Courtroom testimony is revealing more about the actions of the parents of accused Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley on the day of the massacre.
James and Jennifer Crumbley on Tuesday came face-to-face with 30 witnesses to the tragic incident on Nov. 30, 2021, in which four students were killed and six more students and a teacher were wounded.
During the preliminary exam in the Rochester District Court, the prosecution began to lay out its case, trying to convince the 52-3rd District Judge Julie Nicholson that it has enough evidence to bind the suspect's parents over for trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter.
Oakland County Prosecutor questioned Jennifer Crumbley's boss Andrew Smith, who on the witness stand described text messages he received from his employee on the day of the shooting.
"OMG Andy! He's going to kill himself. He must be the shooter," stated one text from Jennifer Crumbley that was read aloud by Smith.
Messages that followed read: "I need a lawyer", "At substation with police," and "Ethan did it."
Smith, who told Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald he was in "complete shock" at that point. A short time later, Smith said he got one more text from Jennifer Crumbley that read: "The gun is gone and so are the bullets."
Another witness called. Kira Pennock, said the Jennifer Crumbley called her 15-year-old son "weird."
According to 25-year-old Pennock, who runs a 51-acre horse boarding business in Lapeer County's Metamora, Jennifer said that Ethan only had one friend and spent the majority of his free time online or playing video games.
The Crumbleys boarded their two horses with Pennock, who also gave Jennifer multiple riding lessons each week.
Hours before the shooting, Jennifer sent a messsage to Pennock through Facebook with a picture of the drawing Ethan Crumbley is accused of drawing violent images on, accompanied with the words, “help me,” “My life is useless,” and “The thoughts won’t stop."
The parents discovered the drawing that day during a meeting with school administrators where they were instructed to get Ethan counseling within 48 hours, prosecution said.
After the meeting, Jennifer told Pennock she’d be bringing Ethan to her scheduled riding lesson that evening, saying that “He can’t be left alone."
But the lesson never happened, as Ethan was taken into police custody later that day.
At the start of the hearing on Tuesday, defense asked to adjourn the preliminary hearing and asked for a shorter witness list, requesting only 16 witnesses testify -- but the request was denied.
The Crumbleys were also ordered by the judge to not express any non-verbal communication with each other during in-court proceedings, following concerns by Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Markeisha Washington that it's “inappropriate” and “disrespectful," adding that it has been noticed by some relatives of the victims.
Prosecutors alleged that the parents knew their son was depressed, but instead of getting him help, they bought him a gun.
The parents have denied any wrongdoing. They claim that they did properly secure the gun and had no way of knowing their son would use it to kill his classmates.
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