Crumbley Parents Removed From Civil Lawsuit In Oxford Shooting

OXFORD, MI — Jennifer and James Crumbley were removed from a civil lawsuit representing the victims' families in the deadly Oxford school shooting.

Attorney Ven Johnson said it made the decision to remove Crumbleys from the lawsuit to speed up an appeal's process to dismiss all Oxford community school employees from governmental immunity.

In order to push the appeal through, there must be no remaining claims against all defendants. With the Crumbleys still on the lawsuit, the law firm would need to bring the Crumbleys to trial, which could take more than a year and would require the families to testify more than once, the law firm said.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Brennan ruled in March that the school district's employees are immune from civil lawsuits accusing school officials failing to stop the deadly attack.

The civil lawsuit was filed against the Crumbleys and employees of Oxford High School in January 2022, two months after Tate Myre, Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St. Juliana and Justin Shilling were killed in the shooting.

Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges in connection to the deadly Oxford school shooting and is awaiting trial. He was scheduled for a Miller hearing on May 1, when Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwame Rowe will determine if the teen can be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jennifer and James Crumbley were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the deadly school shooting that left four students dead and seven other people wounded. The parents face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

A Michigan judge ruled last month the couple can face trial on charges in connection to the deadly Oxford school shooting. A trial date has not yet been scheduled.