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DETROIT — Jennifer Crumbley’s attorney asks a judge to allow the Oxford High School shooter’s mother to serve her manslaughter sentence under house arrest instead of being sent to prison. He reiterated that Crumbley’s criminal complaint paints a misleading narrative.
Crumbley and her husband, James, are the first parents in the United States to face criminal charges in a school shooting by their child. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday on four separate convictions for manslaughter (one for each classmate their son killed).
In a rare and unconventional request, defense attorney Shannon Smith offered to let her client live in a guest house to avoid going to jail.
Smith argued that Jennifer Crumbley is not the woman prosecutors portray her to be and has already suffered enough. She was held captive 23 hours a day for over two years and had no contact with her son or her husband.
“The victim and her family have suffered beyond words,” Smith said in his sentencing memo, but added that “Mrs. Crumbley has also suffered considerably.”
Defense attorney: Jennifer Crumbley: “I actually lost everything.”
Her son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 when he carried out the massacre, pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence without parole. “In fact, she lost everything,” Smith said. “And she carries that extra baggage on her shoulders, knowing the horrible acts her son has committed against others, and constantly second-guessing every choice she made as her parent.”
He added: “Mrs. Crumbley’s son is, in fact, gone forever.”
And locking up her mother won’t change or solve anything, Smith argued, adding that Jennifer Crumbley has been able to work remotely and communicate with victims and their families while on house arrest. He insisted that there was no such thing.
“More prison sentences do nothing to protect society. Mrs. Crumbley is not a threat to the community,” Smith wrote, adding: One would hope for a repeat of the events of November 30, 2021. ”
“Sexist and misogynistic attacks against mothers”
Despite what prosecutors say about Jennifer Crumbley, her lawyers and family say she watched her son’s schoolwork, had him participate in multiple sports, took him on trips and promoted his art on social media. They claim to have been loving and devoted parents who boasted about and posted their work. . She was also a breadwinner, juggling her two jobs to meet the needs of her family.
“Criticizing Mrs. Crumbley for being ‘almost never home’ is a sexist and misogynistic attack on mothers. It’s not a crime, of course, and it’s not a crime, especially if it’s a two-parent family.” “We do not believe that this would lead to criminal activity.” Mr. Crumbley mostly worked from home and was close to home when he was doing DoorDash between jobs,” Smith wrote. , Jennifer Crumbley also scoffed at prosecutors’ claims that they “minimized any role and showed a complete lack of remorse.” She was involved in the matter. ”
“The facts of the matter are that Mrs. Crumbley played a minimal role in this matter,” Smith wrote in her sentencing memorandum, echoing claims she had made all along: What happened to the Crumbleys could happen to any parent in America.
Ultimately, Smith alleges, the Crumbley family was being manipulated by their teenage son, who hid his dark side from his parents and later from school officials, revealing it only after he committed an act of terror. , but no one expected it, she emphasized.
“Her gross negligence can only be recognized as a parenting mistake that any parent could make,” Smith wrote. “The perpetrator manipulated his parents into purchasing a gun, developed a detailed plan to carry out a school shooting without telling them, and, as he admitted at sentencing, had a hidden weapon kept by his father. “and stole the weapon”, took it to school, and when confronted about the issue with the drawing, lied effectively enough to convince school officials that it was not actually an issue. and chose to open fire on his classmates and teacher. ”
Smith said that while Jennifer Crumbley “obviously never shot or killed anyone,” the actions and inactions she is being criticized for “have never shown any discipline or mental health issues, among other things.” “This is an action that any parent can easily take when dealing with a child they have never experienced before.” Aside from the common arguments between parents and teens over trivial things like missing school assignments. ”
But an Oakland County jury disagreed, convicting her in February of four counts of manslaughter, concluding that her actions and omissions caused the deaths of the four students killed by her son. I attached it. On Tuesday, Jennifer and James Crumbley will learn their fate before Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews. A judge will sentence the two men for their role in the death of 16-year-old Tate Mire. Hannah St. Juliana, 14 years old. Madisyn Baldwin (17 years old) and Justin Schilling (17 years old).
Jennifer Crumbley’s family rallies for clemency
Each charge carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison, but the sentences are expected to run concurrently.
In a sentencing memo filed last week, prosecutors asked for 10 to 15 years in prison for the Crumbleys. Both Mr. and Mrs. Crumbley are seeking prison terms.
In an 80-page sentencing memorandum filed late Friday, Jennifer Crumbley’s attorney, mother, father, pastor and several other relatives told the judge that she had been treated with the same neglect. She begged Jennifer Crumbley to show mercy, claiming she was not her mother.
“Contrary to how prosecutors and the media portrayed Jennifer, the center of her life was Ethan,” her father, a former Florida school teacher, wrote in a letter to the judge, saying that after the shooting, his daughter “I was completely distraught,” he said.
Her father’s letter said: “She was devastated by people being hurt and killed, horrified and appalled by Ethan’s actions, worried about Ethan, and frightened by the threats and public anger towards her. ”, and it is written that the father talked to his daughter many times during the birth. Imprisonment. “You can hear in her voice how emotionally and mentally this has taken a toll on her health. She has definitely suffered and has taken her punishment.”
Jennifer Crumbley’s mother, a former schoolteacher, made the same call, stressing that her daughter and her entire family are heartbroken by the tragedy.
Her mother added: “She was paralyzed with fear and had no safe place for the first time in her life. We were the ones who encouraged her to withdraw money from the bank.” Please stay safe until we both report to our lawyers in the morning. ”
The latter comment disputes prosecutors’ contention that the Crumbleys emptied their bank accounts after the shooting because they were on the run to avoid prosecution.
Jennifer Crumbley’s parents also told the judge that their daughter could live with them in Florida if she is sentenced to house arrest.
‘Mrs. Crumbley was criticized for everything he did.”
In his sentencing memorandum, Smith reiterated much of the trial, saying Jennifer Crumbley never saw any signs that her son was suffering mentally, and that she never expected him to harm her or anyone else. There was no, and she insisted she had no knowledge of his plans. To shoot up his school. She particularly slammed the prosecutor’s handling of the case, which she claimed had fabricated a story that her client was on the run and painted her client like a horrible mother.
“Prosecutors continue to repeatedly characterize and present Mrs. Crumbley as a selfish, insensitive, evil person and a horrible mother who ‘prioritises…'”[ed] She put her own interests ahead of the safety of everyone at the school that day,” Smith wrote. Crumbley was blamed regardless of what she did or didn’t do. ”
For example, Smith claims that Jennifer Crumbley’s reaction to the tragedy was criticized “at every turn” during the trial.
“The prosecution certainly said the fact that Mrs. Crumbley didn’t care enough about what was going on, didn’t cry enough, didn’t do what a mother of a school shooter should have done. “There is no formula for how the mother of a school shooter would behave after her child commits such a shocking and disturbing event,” Smith said. wrote. “Ironically, as the trial progressed, when Mrs. Crumbley actually cried after watching the video of her son’s horrific act for the first time, the prosecution demurred: ‘She was crying.'”
Smith also tried to explain her client’s testimony, in which Jennifer Crumbley told jurors at trial that looking back, she wouldn’t have done anything differently. Smith said he said his client would not have acted differently because he did not know what he knew before the shooting: that his son was planning to shoot up the school. Ta.
Lawyer: Of course the shooter’s mother would do it differently.
But in hindsight, Smith emphasized that Jennifer Crumbley would have done many things differently – Jennifer Crumbley prepared the presentation report That’s what he said in interviews with state officials.
“At trial, when I took the stand, I was asked if I would have done anything differently, and I testified that I didn’t. And that’s with the benefit of hindsight that I now have.” Of course, with the information I have now, my answer will be very different. “If I could go back in time, there are a lot of things I would change,” Jennifer Crumbley said in an interview.
Smith argued that Jennifer Crumbley “has not received anything from the victims in this case” by expressing her grief for her and her family.
“It can be very sad for the victims and Mr. and Mrs. Crumbley,” Smith wrote. “While this is a situation that is always certain to end in disappointment for everyone, it is important to unwind the events of November 30, 2021, which created irreparable damage, unimaginable loss, and an everlasting nightmare. I can’t.”
Two jurors heard prosecutors say the Crumbleys ignored a mentally unstable child, bought him a gun instead of getting help, and did not disclose the gun to the school when given the chance. agreed with the evaluation.
“Throughout this entire case, prosecutors have presented a narrative that they are just and noble. They have done so and have misled the public and the media from the beginning of this case and throughout the trial,” Smith said. wrote, pointing out the client’s intentions. She will appeal her conviction.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com.
Contributor: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY
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