Crumbley Parents Are Great Risk To Flee Now More Than Ever: Prosecutor

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — Oakland County Prosecutors fired back at Jennifer and James Crumbley in a Friday court filing, saying the couple is a greater flight risk now more than ever as their case against the couple is stronger than ever.

The reponse from prosecutors comes after the couple asked a judge again to lower their bond, claiming they weren't fleeing police after charges were announced against them in connection to the deadly Oxford school shooting, but were rather preparing to turn themselves in.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, released new evidence in the court filing they say further proves the couple was concerned about their son's mental health before they bought him a gun.

"Jennifer Crumbley’s own statement, in the back of the police car after the shooting, about what she knew about the shooter’s mental state when she and James Crumbley bought the shooter his gun: 'You know my biggest fear was that he was gonna turn the gun on himself,'" Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in the filing.

McDonald also argued in the court filing the couple is at greater risk to flee now more than their previous requests to reduce their bond, because they have cut all connections to their community and no one there will harbor them.

"The few ties the Defendants had to the community were severed when they sold their house and their horses, and to the extent there was ever anyone in the community who was willing to harbor them, there are none now," McDonald said.

in a Wednesday court filing, defense attorneys for the couple argued the couple wasn't trying to evade arrest, but had to leave their home out of a fear for their safety. They also said police took their cellphones, which is why they had multiple "burner phones," and that they withdrew cash to pay their legal fees.

The couple was arrested after officers found them hiding in a Detroit art studio during an hours-long manhunt. They were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the deadly Oxford school shooting that left four students dead and seven other people wounded.

"The Crumbleys were terrified that someone would figure out who they were and hurt them," the couple’s lawyers said in a motion filed Wednesday. "They made no effort to evade police."

The couple's trial was supposed to start in January 2023, but the Michigan Supreme Court temporarily paused the trial to allow an appeals court to ensure there is probate cause to try the couple on the involuntary manslaughter charges.

It is unusual for the parents of a school shooter to be charged in connection to the shooting, something defense lawyers have capitalized on, arguing the couple cannot be held criminally responsible for the deaths of four students killed by their son in the deadly Oxford school shooting.

In addition, the defense maintains the couple did not know their son was planning the deadly shooting and didn't think their son was suffering from any mental health issues leading up to the attack that left four students dead and seven other people hurt.

Prosecutors, however, said the couple ignored numerous disturbing warning signs from their son leading up to the deadly shooting, and instead of getting him help, they bought him a gun.

The couple's Wednesday request to reduce their bond was their sixth attempt. A Rochester Hills judge rejected the previous five attempts, keeping them in the Oakland County Jail, where they've been for more than a year.

The couple's son, Ethan Crumbley, 16, pleaded guilty to killing four students and wounding seven other people when he walked out of the boy's bathroom and began firing inside Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. He was placed in the Oakland County Jail while he waits for a sentencing date.