The parents of the teenage boy who killed four of his classmates and injured six others and a teacher at Oxford High School in 2021 are appealing their case to the Michigan Supreme Court.
The attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley, who are each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting, argue Oakland County District Court Judge Julie Nicholson abused her discretion when she sent the cases to circuit court to stand trial.
Nicholson wrote: "The deaths of the four victims could have been avoided if the Mr. and Mrs. Crumbley exercised ordinary care and diligence in the care of their son."
Their attorneys, Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, said prosecutors cannot demonstrate that a juror could decide a reasonably foreseeable outcome of the Crumbleys' alleged gross negligence was then-15-year-old Ethan Crumbley committing a shooting that day. They said their son's criminal conduct was the sole cause of harm to the victims and the shooting was not reasonably foreseeable.
Prosecutors said because the Crumbleys bought the gun their son used in the shooting, failed to properly secure it, disregarded that their son was experiencing mental health issues, immediately suspected their son of being the shooter when they heard of the shooting and should have taken their son home when they found out about disturbing drawings on his math homework, they should have foreseen their son committing the shooting.
The Court of Appeals already denied the Crumbleys' appeal on the matter.
"One of the few reasonably foreseeable outcomes of failing to secure the firearm that was gifted to EC was that it would be accessible to EC and that, in his mentally deteriorated condition, he might use it in unlawful ways," Court of Appeals Judge Christopher Murray wrote. "We acknowledge defendants' argument that no parent could reasonably foresee their child committing a mass shooting. But these issues are based on the facts and what is reasonably foreseeable under an objective standard, and the circumstances defendants were presented with on November 30, 2021, provided a heightened set of warnings that could lead a jury to find causation."
The Supreme Court can decide to hear oral arguments on the case, as the Crumbleys' attorneys have requested, or decline to hear it. If they decline to hear the case, the Court of Appeals decision that the bindover was warranted will stand and the case will proceed to trial.
The Crumbleys' son was charged with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of attempted murder and 12 counts of using a gun during a felony.
The Crumbleys each face four involuntary manslaughter charges connected to the deaths of Oxford High students Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. Their son pleaded guilty in October to their deaths and awaits sentencing.
