Trial of Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Oxford High School shooter, continues with second day of testimony
(CBS DETROIT) - The trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter, continued Friday with the second day of testimony.
The trial started Friday with a debate over whether or not the shooter and his psychiatrists would be able to testify.
Defense attorney Shannon Smith wanted them to testify due to specific text messages are being shown in the trial.
The text messages are between the shooter and a friend, to whom he described his mental health struggles and said his parents wouldn't get him the help he needed.
During the shooter's Miller hearing, he admitted that his parents didn't know about his mental health struggles or that he was planning the shooting.
"I agree with this court, there's no case law, and that's why I am asking this court to make the decision to not allow these statements, pursuant to the court rule because I have no way to defend them," Smith said.
On Friday, the jury heard a deep dive into the family's digital footprint as the prosecution built their case on why they believe the mother of the Oxford High School shooter ignored signs that could have prevented the mass shooting that killed four students.
From the beginning, prosecutors made it clear that there's nothing criminal about being bad parents, but what they did Friday was establish a pattern in the months and days leading to the shooting where the convicted killer told his mom he needed help, but she didn't do anything to address it.
The entire day, the court heard from Ed Wagrowski, a computer crimes expert who pulled everything from the seven phones investigators collected from the shooter and his parents.
The prosecution honing in on messages sent in March 2021 where the shooter texted Jennifer Crumbley several times saying he was home alone, scared because he was hearing strange sounds and seeing demons.
But his parents ignored those messages as they were busy riding horses.
But the defense took exception to that.
On Friday afternoon, the jury saw how Jennifer Crumbley and her husband responded in the aftermath of the mass shooting, including her deleting several messages while they were on the run.
On Thursday, the prosecution and defense delivered opening statements and called four witnesses to the stand. Those witnesses included Molly Darnell, the teacher who made eye contact with the shooter before he fired shots at her, as well as Kristy Gibson-Marshall, an Oxford assistant principal who encountered Tate Myre after he was shot.
The manager of a store where James Crumbley purchased the gun that was used in the shooting spoke, as did Special Agent Brett Brandon of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Defense attorney Shannon Smith began her opening statements by referring to Taylor Swift's song "Bad Blood" and said, "Band-Aids don't stop bullet holes."
She claimed that the prosecution was trying to solve the problem with a Band-Aid to make the community feel better.
In addition, the defense argued that Jennifer Crumbley had no way of knowing the shooting would happen and claimed that school officials allowed her son to stay at school the day of the shooting.
The prosecution is expected to call 20-25 people to testify over the next two weeks of the trial.
Jury selection concluded Wednesday with a 17-person jury comprised of 10 women and seven men.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter after their son killed four students, Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Hana St. Juliana, and injured several other people in the November 2021 shooting.
Prosecutors accuse the parents of buying the gun for their son that was used the day of the shooting and not getting him the necessary help.
The shooter was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December 2023.