Crumbley Parents Say They Didn't Flee Police, Want Lower Bond: Lawyer

ROCHESTER HILLS, MI — Jennifer and James Crumbley asked an Oakland County Judge again to lower their bail Wednesday, claiming they weren't trying to evade arrest, according to a new court filing.

The couple has been in the Oakland County Jail for more than a year after prosecutors charged them each with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the deadly Oxford School Shooting. They were each given a $500,000 bond.

Detroit Police officers arrested the couple when they found them in a Detroit Art Studio, more than 40 miles from their home in Oxford, with multiple cellphones and thousands of dollars in cash after an hours-long manhunt when they failed to show up for their arraignment.

A judge has rejected numerous pleas from the couple to reduce their bond, as prosecutors believe the couple was temporarily hiding in the art studio before fleeing the area entirely, essentially maintaining they are a flight risk.

Defense lawyers have long argued the couple was not trying to flee police, but were hiding out of fear for their safety and were planning to turn themselves in, even noting they planned to meet with them at 7:30 a.m. the following day after the charges were filed. Detroit Police officers arrested the couple at 11:20 p.m. the night before.

Now defense lawyers said in Wednesday's filing they have new proof that shows the couple was not fleeing officers, arguing the Crumbleys stayed in motels because they were afraid of being at their home, used multiple cell phones because police had seized their original phones and needed the cash to secure a legal defense.

Moreover, defense lawyers also said that if the Crumbleys wanted to flee, they would have fled the state entirely, considering they had plenty of time and family in other states.

"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 Michigan Supreme Court temporarily paused the couple's trial to allow an appeals court to hear defense arguments that there is no probable cause to try the couple on involuntary manslaughter charges.

While defense lawyers have argued the couple cannot be held criminally responsible for the deaths of four students killed by their son in the deadly Oxford school shooting, prosecutors convinced the Michigan Court of Appeals that the charges were warranted and legally proper, claiming the parents ignored disturbing warning signs from their son leading up to the deadly shooting, and instead of getting him help, they bought him a gun.

"He didn't just snap," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald wrote in a separate court filing. "He followed a pathway paved for him by prior shooters, and enabled by these defendants."

The couple maintains they 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.

The court filing also comes after two former Oxford School District board members accused school officials of ignoring their own threat assessment playbook leading up to the deadly school shooting.

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.