PONTIAC, Mich. — Prosecutors on Friday sought to portray the mother of a Michigan school shooter as an aloof parent more interested in horses than the mental health of her teenage son who was apparently having hallucinations months before killing four students.
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, is on trial for involuntary manslaughter, the first time parents were charged in a U.S. mass school shooting. She and her husband are accused of contributing to the deaths at Oxford High School by neglecting their son's needs and making a gun accessible at home.
Defendant Jennifer Crumbley, 45, appears Friday during her jury trial at the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac, Mich.
Son texted about 'demons,' hauntingsÂ
Evidence shows Jennifer Crumbley and her husband, James, were riding horses and didn't respond when Ethan Crumbley sent her text messages on March 17, 2021, saying their house was haunted.
She told her husband earlier that day that she wanted to "get drunk and ride my horse," according to a message displayed to the jury.
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Ethan Crumbley said he was scared because "demons" were "throwing bowls."
"Can you text back?" he asked his mother.
Three days later, when his parents again were riding horses, Ethan Crumbley messaged: "Clothes started flying off the shelf. This stuff only happens when I'm home alone."
Parents walk away with their kids from the Meijer's parking lot, where many students gathered following a shooting at Oxford High School, on Nov. 30, 2021, in Oxford, Mich.
Expert: Hallucinations may have been warning
The prosecutor's computer crimes expert, Ed Wagrowski, testified that the hallucinations "could have been warnings" to the parents.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Shannon Smith said there could be reasons why Jennifer Crumbley didn't reply or even see the messages in a timely manner. She mentioned weak wireless service in the area or a belief that Ethan Crumbley was joking.
Wagrowski acknowledged some of those points. "I don't know what she's thinking, no," he said.
In April 2021, seven months before the school attack, Ethan Crumbley told a friend he was "mentally and physically dying." He said he asked his father to take him to a doctor but was told to "suck it up."
Prosecutors sought to contrast the alleged neglect of her son with Jennifer Crumbley's more detailed messages about treatment her horse, Billy, needed for a bad leg.
"Make sure you get in between the heel bulbs," she directed.
That was a day before the school shooting. At the same time, the school left a voicemail to tell her that Ethan Crumbley was caught searching for ammunition on his phone but he wasn't in trouble; the message was played in court.
Craig Shilling, foreground, and Steve St. Juliana, background, parents of shooting victims, listen to former Detective Edward Wagrowski testify Friday during Jennifer Crumbley's trial at the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac, Mich.
The 17-year-old was sentenced to life in prison in December after he pleaded guilty to murder, terrorism and other crimes. Ethan Crumbley was 15 at the time of the shooting.
James Crumbley faces trial on involuntary manslaughter charges in March.
Smith told jurors Thursday that the mother was "hypervigilant" about her son and shouldn't be blamed for the deaths. Jennifer Crumbley is expected to testify in the days ahead.
Smith wants to challenge some evidence by having Ethan Crumbley or his doctors speak to the jury. But his lawyers have said he would invoke his right to remain silent and also would not waive a right to privacy with psychiatrists.
Yes, it's getting worse: New data shows mass shootings are more frequent
Yes, it's getting worse: New data shows mass shootings are more frequent
was produced by , a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system, and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.
On Oct. 25, 2023, a gunman opened fire in Lewiston, Maine, ultimately killing 18 people and injuring 13 more at a bowling alley and a nearby bar. He was after a two-day manhunt. Maine, which has one of the lowest homicide rates in the nation, remains in shock.Ìý
If it feels like U.S. mass shootings have become more frequent, that intuition remains correct, according to data analysis by .Ìý
Under even one of the most conservative definitions of "mass shootings," in which a gunman slaughters four or more strangers in a public place, the number of these crimes has indeed been climbing in the last few years — and they have higher death tolls, as well.
Mass shootings account for just a fraction of the daily toll of firearm deaths in the U.S., where every day in acts of gun violence in 2022.
Our analysis is based on data through 2022 from The Violence Project, a nonprofit research group that uses a narrow definition of mass shootings adopted from the Congressional Research Service, which advises federal lawmakers.
Mass shootings have been on the rise steadily for the past 40 years
Thirty-three of these massacres occurred from 2018 through 2022, compared with 25 from 2013 through 2017, according to The Violence Project data. We compared five-year periods, rather than annual data, so we could more clearly see trends over time. A focus on yearly data would be skewed by 2020, when there were two mass shooting incidents, which researchers attribute to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Still, the latest five-year period saw more attacks than any other comparable timespan dating back to 1966 — an average of about 6.6 mass shootings per year since 2018.
The Violence Project as single incidents in which four or more people are killed (not including the shooter), in public locations, such as schools, stores, or workplaces. It excludes murders that occur as a result of other crimes, such as domestic violence, robbery and gang violence.
At least seven mass shootings so far in 2023 fit this definition:
- , California: 11 dead, 9 injured.
- , California: 7 dead, 1 injured.
- , Tennessee: 6 dead.
- , Kentucky: 5 dead, 8 injured.
- , Texas: 8 dead, 7 injured.
- , Pennsylvania: 5 dead, 2 injured.
- , Maine: 18 dead, 13 injured.
This means 2023 is on par with the number of mass shootings in recent years. The Violence Project counted eight mass shootings in 2021, and seven in 2022.Ìý
While shooting incidents show a gradual upward trend, the number of those killed is rising at an alarming rate
As mass shootings in the U.S. reached a record high, so did the number of deaths and injuries. From 2018 to 2022, perpetrators killed 257 people — close to the 266 fatalities in the five-year period that ended in 2017, and significantly more than any previous period.
The rise in deaths and injuries from 2013 through 2017 was mostly due to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. At a Las Vegas music festival in 2017, a gunman with multiple assault weapons killed at least 60 people. Over 850 people were injured, including scores hurt in a stampede, according to The Violence Project.Ìý
Injuries have likewise risen significantly; one contributing factor: assault weapons
Our analysis shows that in the past five years, assault-style weapons have been used in half of mass shootings. Prior to 2013, they were used in one-third or fewer of all mass shootings.
There is no national, legal definition of a "mass shooting." Several organizations track this form of gun violence, but use different yardsticks.
In 2024, The Marshall Project will update the charts included in this article with full data from 2023. For more on mass shootings and how they are defined, is available.Ìý
