PONTIAC (WWJ) — An Oakland County judge has denied a request by the father of the Oxford High School shooter to move his trial out of Oakland County.
James Crumbley and his attorney had requested a change of venue, arguing he wouldn't be able to get a fair trial after his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was tried and convicted earlier this month due to the media coverage it received.
Crumbley, like his wife, is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. He is accused of buying the gun his son, Ethan Crumbley, used to kill four students and wound seven other people on Nov. 30, 2021.
A request to have his son's journal barred from evidence during the trial is also pending. A motion was also filed earlier this week in an attempt to block two former Oxford students from testifying.
The Crumbleys are the first parents in the U.S. to be tried criminally for their role in a child's school shooting.
Last week Michigan saw four new gun laws take effect, including safe storage laws that require people to keep any firearms being stored or left unattended on a premises unloaded and either locked with a trigger-locking mechanism or stored in a locked storage container.
Jury selection for James Crumbley's trial is scheduled to begin on March 5.
Ethan Crumbley was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to numerous felonies — including murder and terrorism — for the shooting that rocked the small community of Oxford and claimed the lives of Madisyn Baldwin, Justin Shilling, Tate Myre and Hana St. Juliana.
