PONTIAC, Mich. — An Oakland County judge denied a request from the parents of the Oxford High School shooter to attend their son's hearing that will determine if he will be eligible for parole.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews denied the request Wednesday, but did not give a reason.
Prosecutors balked at the March 27 request, filed by the Crumbleys' attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman.
Smith and Lehman said the May 1 Miller hearing, where Judge Kwame Rowe will hear testimony to indicate if there are mitigating factors that would make it unconstitutional to sentence their son to life in prison without the possibility of parole, is "of paramount importance" to the Crumbleys. They have not been allowed to have contact with their son, though they have received "sufficient" updates from family members and from their attorneys on how he is doing, according to the request.
But the Crumbleys' statement that they are concerned about their son "is a stark contrast to their actions and inactions immediately after the shooting," Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast wrote. They abandoned their son as soon as they thought charges against them were possible, he wrote. They left it to the court to find him an attorney, emptied his bank account and used that money to find themselves attorneys and flee, he wrote.
"The People believe this is defendants' attempt to confront and/or implore their son not to disclose the full circumstances of his upbringing," Keast wrote. "The idea that they are focused on reducing their own sentence at the expense of their son is shameful and offensive."
The Crumbleys are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths of Justin Shilling, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; and Madisyn Baldwin, 17.
Their son pleaded guilty in October to their deaths.
A three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled last month there was enough evidence to send James and Jennifer Crumbley to trial on the involuntary manslaughter charges.
