Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Oxford High School shooter, takes stand in her trial
(CBS DETROIT) - Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter, took the stand for the first time Thursday on the sixth day of testimony in her trial.
The mother is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Oxford High School shooting in which her son killed four students, Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Hana St. Juliana, and injured seven other people.
CBS News Detroit will stream live coverage starting at 9 a.m. Friday as the trial continues.
Jennifer Crumbley takes the stand
The prosecution has finished presenting their evidence and rests. Jennifer Crumbley was the first person called to testify in her trial.
Jennifer Crumbley testified about her affair with Brian Meloche, her friend from high school. She said the affair lasted for about six months, and they met on average once a week.
The mother said this didn't affect her relationship with her son because they only met in a Costco parking lot in the mornings. Other than those regular meetings, they met two or three times while Jennifer Crumbley was on business trips.
The mother discusses her affair with Brian Meloche
The mother was asked about Brian Meloche, and she talked about the affair, saying that they saw each other on average at least once a week, which lasted for about six months, starting in the spring of 2021.
She said this didn't affect her relationship with her son in any way because they would meet in the mornings in the Costco parking lot, and that was it.
Outside of that, she and Meloche met with each other two or three times while she was on business trips.
Photos of messy Crumbley house shown in court
They also talked about Kristy Gibson-Marshall, the assistant principal at Oxford High School.
She said she had emailed Gibson-Marshall, but those emails never revolved around discipline.
After that, they talked about the photos of the family's house that were shown. She said it made her feel horrible because the house was so messy.
She discussed how her son had two rooms. She said his room got so messy that he stayed in another one so she could clean it, but she never did that.
Did Jennifer Crumbley believe her son needed mental health help?
The mother said she didn't believe her son needed therapy for his mental health. She said he had anxiety while taking tests and over what he was going to do after high school, but didn't discuss it to the extent where she thought he needed a psychiatrist.
She also said he never asked for mental health help from a professional, but she said her husband had called a counselor at the high school because her son was worried about his future.
Besides that, she would take her son to the doctor for health reasons, such as a headache, but nothing serious.
Jennifer Crumbley discusses family photos
Defense attorney Shannon Smith presented several Facebook photos. Smith said that these photos would help show the jury what types of things the mother would typically post about, and the judge said she could show photos that go back to 2020.
When Smith asked how she would characterize the amount of horses on Facebook compared to the rest of her life, Jennifer Crumbley said she had posted more photos of her horses over the last few years.
"Over the last couple years, more. It was hard getting a picture of my son as he got older. He didn't like me taking pictures of him. But … between 2020 up until the end of 2021, there were a lot of pictures of horses."
After that, several more photos were shown in court. These photos included her son with a chinchilla, the family apple picking, her son carving pumpkins with a friend, her son's trip to Washington, D.C., in ninth grade, and the family on a camping trip.
Jennifer Crumbley discusses gun purchase
Defense attorney Shannon Smith questioned Jennifer Crumbley about the gun her son used in the shooting. Jennifer Crumbley says her husband, James Crumbley, purchased the gun, and she was not with them when the gun was purchased.
When asked by Smith if guns were really her thing, Jennifer Crumbley responded, "Not really. No."
Jennifer Crumbley says her husband was responsible for storing the gun. She said she didn't feel comfortable being in charge of that.
She testified that the gun was secured in her home and that she did not know where the key to the cable lock was stored. She also testified that she did not believe her son knew where the key was.
Jennifer Crumbley said she shot the gun a couple of times with her son during a trip to a gun range. She said she was more interested in skeet shooting. She called a trip to the gun range a "mother-son day" in a Facebook post because she says she's never been asked before to go with her son. She had been to the range once before with her son and husband.
Jennifer Crumbley places responsibility on James Crumbley
Jennifer Crumbley testified for more than two-and-a-half hours on Thursday, trying to convince the jury that she was not a mother who ignored her son's pleas before he committed mass murder.
She denied those allegations and placed a lot of responsibility on her husband, James Crumbley.
When asked by Smith if her son ever needed mental health treatment or counseling, Jennifer Crumbley said, "No." She said that there were a few instances where her son had anxiety about test-taking and what his plans were after high school, but that she was not really worried about her son's mental health.
Journal entries from Jennifer Crumbley's son about "shooting up" the Oxford High School
The first person to testify Thursday was Timothy Willis, a detective lieutenant with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.
He discussed arriving at the school on the day of the shooting and how authorities began investigating the shooting.
In addition, he identified the four victims and discussed their autopsy reports, and he reviewed the video from the day of the shooting.
He testified about the shooter's backpack being found on the day of the shooting. Inside, they found a journal with 21 pages that referenced the shooting.
The following are the journal entries read in court:
- "I have zero help for my mental problems and it's causing me to shoot up the f------ school."
- "I want help, but my parents don't listen to me so I can't get any help."
- "My parents won't listen to me about help or a therapist."
- "I want to shoot up the f------ school so badly."
- "Soon I am going to buy a 9 mm pistol."
- "I'm about to shoot up the school and spend the rest of my life in prison."
- "First off, I got my gun. It's a SP 2022 Sig Sauer 9mm. Second the shooting is tomorrow. I have access to the gun and the ammo. I am fully committed to this now. So yeah...I'm going to prison for life and many people have about one day left to live."
Dispute over including portions of journal entries
Defense attorney Shannon Smith wants to include parts of the journal that had previously been excluded. This consists of a section where the shooter talks about not knowing where his dad hid the gun.
Smith says she needs to question Willis about some of the passages in the journal because she cannot call the shooter to testify.
Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews said she's worried about "opening the door" into the rest of the shooter's journal.
The prosecution says that if she can discuss excluded parts, they should also be able to do so.
The judge called a brief recess as this dispute was happening.
Judge says entries would open door to "bird evidence"
After reviewing the entries, Matthews said one in particular would open the door to the bird evidence that had already been excluded from the trial.
In the entry, the shooter says, "However, I do not want to get caught as that will make me getting the 9mm impossible," which refers to the bird evidence.
Smith said she thought in this entry, the shooter was talking about being caught having mental problems.
The judge ruled that no additional entries of the journal would be included.
"I think that would do nothing more than hurt Mrs. Crumbley severely. It is highly prejudicial. That's my ruling on that," Matthews said.
Recap of fifth day of testimony in Jennifer Crumbley's trial
During Wednesday's testimony, multiple people testified, and the discussions revolved around Jennifer and her husband being located after the shooting. In addition, the jury heard from a man who had an affair with the mother.
Sam Marzban, a lieutenant for the Oakland County Sheriff's Office who worked the Oxford High School shooting, testified first. He said after a search warrant was authorized, he was at the family's home talking with the parents and getting their cell phones when the mother said, "Lives were lost today, and he's going to have to suffer."
Business owner identifies Crumbley's vehicle and calls 911
Luke Kirtley, a coffee business owner who has a studio in Detroit, in the building where Jennifer and James Crumbley were found, testified that when he saw the car in the parking lot, he recognized it, so he decided to check the plate. When he confirmed it was the car authorities were looking for, he called 911.
Then, a man who had an affair with the mother also testified about deleted text messages.
Brian Meloche described his conversations with Jennifer Crumbley from the day of the shooting and the days following. During the cross-examination, the prosecution said the defense was asking questions closely related to factors already excluded from evidence.
Affair between Jennifer Crumbley and her friend revealed
Defense attorney Shannon Smith was asking Meloche about his interviews with police and if they threatened him with the fact that he might lose his job if he tried to help the mother.
The prosecution said if Smith was allowed to ask these kinds of questions, then they could tell the jury about the affair Meloche had with Jennifer Crumbley.
Jennifer and James Crumbley have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Oxford High School shooting on Nov. 30, 2021, where their son killed four students, Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Hana St. Juliana, and injured seven other people.
They are accused of buying their son a gun, which was used during the shooting, and not getting him help for his mental health.
The shooter was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The trial continues Friday with cross-examination by the prosecution.
