Business owner Luke Kirtley testifies about finding James Crumbley's car in Detroit after Oxford shooting
(CBS DETROIT) - The trial of James Crumbley continued Tuesday, with the fourth day of testimony.
Business owner Luke Kirtley was called to testify, as his coffee roasting business was in the industrial building where the vehicle of James and Jennifer Crumbley was found. He also testified during the trial of Jennifer Crumbley.
His business, Coffeehaus, is located in an industrial building on Bellevue Street in Detroit.
He described the parking lot and said that some tenants have garages.
Kirtley told the prosecution he is a car enthusiast and would put his nicer car on the garage's third floor so he didn't have to leave it parked on the street.
On the night of Dec. 3, Kirtley went to switch out his cars and noticed a vehicle backed into the corner of the lot.
He testified that he was aware of the Oxford High School shooting and had seen the wanted poster on Facebook earlier that day.
After walking back out of the building, he realized the car that was backed into the spot looked like the car on the wanted poster he had seen.
Kirtley said he went to check the license plate on the vehicle and saw a woman sitting next to it.
He went back inside the building and called 911.
"The parents of the shooter that are running away, they're here," Kirtley said in the 911 call.
The business owner testified about when law enforcement authorities arrived and how they located the Crumbley parents. Law enforcement authorities had shown him where the parents had been.
He said the walls inside the building are thin, so everybody inside the building can hear what's going on.
Kirtley said there is an area where people put things to give away or store for a short time, and a mattress was left there. He said this was significant because when he saw where the Crumbley parents were found, he noticed the mattress in there.
The cross-examination began, and James Crumbley's defense attorney, Mariell Lehman, asked him about the industrial building. Kirtley confirmed that the building had multiple tenants.
They discussed how people got to the garage area and said people would typically load and unload cars there.
He confirmed he was aware of the Oxford High School shooting, and Lehman said his testimony indicated that the poster said the parents were on the run, and Kirtley said it was more of a "be on the lookout."
When asked about seeing Jennifer Crumbley sitting outside the vehicle, Kirtley said he doesn't recall seeing that person smoking.
Kirtley said the person sitting outside the car didn't say anything to him. He said he went back inside the building to be safe due to what he knew about the shooting.
After that, Kirtley said he did not know that the person he saw walked into the building after he did.
Lehman clarifies the timing of the events, confirming that it was "more than a couple minutes" between Kirtley arriving at the building and police arriving.
Kirtley clarified that authorities walked through the building to get back to his car, and on his walk to his car, he could see the room where James and Jennifer Crumbley were found.
The prosecution then asked if people slept at the building, and Kirtley said that, according to the terms of his lease, sleeping at the building is not allowed.
