PONTIAC (WWJ) -- Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School mass shooter, took the stand in her own defense in Oakland County Circuit Court on Thursday.
"I thought we were pretty close. We would talk. I mean... we did a lot of things together," she said of her son, the shooter, under questioning by her attorney, Shannon Smith on Thursday.
"I trusted him," she said. "And I felt like I had an open door and he can come to me about anything. I mean, I felt as a family that we were, the three of us, were really close."
Crumbley said she would look through his things a bit when she cleaned his messy bedroom. However, she said: "I did not go through his text messages. I didn't have a reason to."
To watch the People v. Crumbley LIVE on Zoom, click here.
While Crumbley said her son expressed anxiety over what he would do after high school graduation, she never thought he needed mental help or therapy.
"His grades weren't that great, so he was stressed out about getting into college," Crumbley said, but added that she didn't think he needed to see a mental health professional at any point.
Prompted by Smith, Crumbley spoke about her son's interest, including bowling and video games, and her son's best friend whom she said came over basically after day after school, until he entered an OCD treatment program and moved away.
Crumbley talked about contact she'd had with the school about her son's grades and missing assignments on a regular basis, but said she didn't correspond with the school about disciplinary matters outside of that.
Asked about discipline at home, Crumbley said there were some issues regarding school assignments and his grades. A couple of times she and her husband took away her son's phone, she said, and sometimes his video games.
While Crumbley was on the stand, Smith admitted into evidence family photos from Facebook, showing family trips and activities, and asked her client to describe them.
Smith asked her client about the day Jennifer's husband, James, bought her son a 9mm handgun.
Crumbley said, while guns are "not really" her thing, she didn't object to her husband buying her son a gun.
Crumbley said father and son would go often to the shooting range, had at one time rented a 9mm to use at the range, and that Ethan had asked his father to buy him one.
"And my son and my husband did a lot of texting back and forth," Crumbley testified. "My son did a lot of research on it, and they were comparing different ones that they wanted to buy. That went on for a couple months. My husband just kept blowing it off, like 'not right now, not right now.'"
Then, while Crumbley was out shopping on Black Friday, she said James took the teen to buy the gun, thinking they could get a good deal.
While Crumbley testified that she didn't have a problem with James buying their son a handgun, she was irritated because typically they would all go to the Christmas tree farm that day, and she had to wait for them to get home.
Smith asked her client if the teen had "free access" to the weapon.
"No. It was for him to use at the shooting range only," Crumbley said.
"Was he allowed to take it out?" Smith asked.
"Not without my husband around," Crumbley replied.
"Did he know where it was kept?" Smith asked.
"My husband hid it; usually in our bedroom in different spots," Crumbley said.
"What was the intention of hiding it?" Smith asked.
"That's just what you're supposed to do," Crumbley said, adding that, when hidden, the gun would be locked with a cable lock.
Crumbley said James would be the one to handle locking it up, and that the key was kept in a beer stein in the kitchen. While she didn't deal with storing the gun itself, Crumbley admitted that she'd bought the bullets and hid them in the house, separately from the gun.
The Saturday before the shooting, Crumbley said she did go to the gun range with her son for a mother son day, and while she wasn't really into it, she "felt good about it" because she was spending time with her son. This was the second time she'd been to the gun range, and the other time with just Ethan without James along.
Crumbley said James took the gun out of the back of her car and stored it in the house that day. Why didn't she just put the gun away, rather than leaving it in her car and waiting for her husband? "I just don't feel comfortable with it." Crubmely said. "That's his thing."
After Smith asked of Crumbley actually saw James store the gun that day, she clarified she didn't see it happen, but that James told her he did it. The bullets, she said, were stored separately from the gun.
The following Monday, Crumbley said she got a voicemail from the school stating that Ethan had been looking up bullets on his phone in class.
The voicemail seemed "kinda upbeat," Crumbley testified, with the school administrator saying she'd talked to Ethan about it, and that he admitted responsivity. Crumbley said she thought the matter was settled, so she didn't return the call.
"It was pretty black and white," Crimbley said. "I mean, she said what happened, they seemed like they solved the problem, and I didn't have any questions."
Smith asked Crumbley about a text message presented in court in which she told her son, about that incident, "LOL I'm not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught."
Crumbley said the not getting caught message was in reference to an inside joke in her family, referring to stories she'd told her son about things she'd done when she was young.
"So, there's an ongoing thing in our house; my son would always ask me about the trouble I'd get in in high school. I was a little bit of a trouble maker, because I always got caught," Crumbley said. "My friends would all do the same thing, and I'd be the one to get caught. So, I was kind of refereeing to that."
Smith asked Crumbley about text messages from her son about seeing demons or bowls flying off shelves, Crumbley said that they joked around a lot in their family, and she didn't take it seriously. She testified that in no way did not messages indicate to her that her son was dealing with any mental health issues.
The morning of the deadly shooting, in which Ethan Crumbley would kill four of his classmates and wound six more and a teacher, his mother and father went to the school for a meeting.
The meeting was with a school counselor and the dean of students who wanted to speak with the Crumbleys about a math worksheet on which the teen had draw a gun, blood, and the words, "Help me," "My life is useless."
The counselor testified that Jennifer and James Crumbley did not want to take Ethan home after the meeting, they had to return to work, and he said he'd like to stay. So, with his backpack, the teen was given a pass and sent back to class.
But Crumbley disputed some of that on the stand on Thursday.
"Did you feel like your were taking the position of: 'I am leaving him here at school whether he can be here or not'?" asked Smith.
"No. Absolutely not," Jennifer Crumbley said. "There was never a time that where I would refuse to take him home. I could easily, if he wanted to go, take him with me. I had no issues with that."
In Ethan's the backpack was the 9mm handgun the teen would use in the deadly shootings, just a couple of hours later.
Jennifer Crumbley testified that, a short time later, she'd learn there was a shooting at the school, and at that point she couldn't believe her son would hurt anyone. She was worried that her son could be hurt, so she rushed to the school.
The mother testified that she then got a call from her husband, who told her the gun was missing. At that point, she thought worried her son might kill himself, so she texted him: "Ethan. don't do it."
Still, at that point, she said that she still could not believe that her son would have hurt anyone.
Asked about her demeanor later at the police substation, she testified that she "was numb," could not believe what was happening was really happening, and she was in a state of "disbelief."
Jennifer Crumbley testified that, over the next couple of days, she received numerous threats via social media and email, how she and her husband didn't feel safe, and how they'd left their home to stay in hotels out-of-town.
She said a friend offered to bring them food and invited them to stay at his art studio in Detroit.
Jennifer Crumbley testified that it wasn't until she and her husband were already at the art studio, on Dec. 3, when they learned they'd been charged with a crime. She said they'd gotten in touch with her lawyer, Smith, and planned to turn themselves in the next morning.
The couple slept on a mattress in the art studio, she testified. Police arrived late that night and she and her husband were arrested.
Wrapping up her questioning, Smith asked her client if she ever thought that her son would hurt anyone.
"No. As a parent you spend your whole life trying to protest your child from other dangers. You never think you'd have to protect your child from harming others," Jennifer Crumbley said.
Looking back, she said she wouldn't have done anything differently.
Her attorney then asked, "If you could change what happened, would you?"
"Oh, absolutely. I wish he would have killed us instead," Jennifer Crumbley replied.
Smith asked her client if she believes she is the victim here.
"I don't want to say that I'm a victim; I do not want to disrespect those families that truly are the victims on this," Jennifer Crumbley said. "But we did lose a lot."
"You've lost everting," Smith said.
"We did," Jennifer Crumbley replied.
Prosecutors will have a chance to cross-examine Jennifer Crumbley when the trial resumes Friday morning.
Earlier Thursday, the prosecution rested its case after playing video footage of the deadly shootings, prompting tears from the defendant and others in the courtroom.
On the stand Thursday morning. Oakland County Sheriff's Lt. Timothy Willis was questioned about the then 15-year-old shooter's journal, which was recovered from the shooting scene.
In a passage read aloud by Willis, Ethan Crumbley said his mental problems were making him shoot up the school. "I want help, but my parents don't listen to me," Willis read.
After pleading guilty to first degree murder, terrorism and other charges, Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors have charged James and Jennifer Crumbley with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter, alleging that the couple bought their son the gun, failed to secure it, and failed to get him mental health help.
James will be tried separately.
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