Pontiac, Michigan (FOX 2) – Evidence presented at Jennifer Crumbley’s trial Monday included video of her parents learning their son was the Oxford High School shooter, as well as video of the gunman’s first police interview. Ta. Jennifer and her husband James are both charged with four counts of manslaughter.
FOX 2 will stream the trial in the live player above. Court was adjourned Tuesday due to weather but is expected to resume once the jury arrives. *Updates this story with latest updates*
1:18 p.m. – Defense cross-examination begins
1:05 p.m. – Jurors return from lunch and witnesses take the stand.
Amanda Holland was Jennifer Crumbley’s co-worker when they worked at the same company.
Ms. Holland testified that Crumbley and the suspect had gotten into an argument the night before, and that either the defendant or James Crumbley had locked her son out of the house. She was also close to Jennifer when the defendant learned there was a shooter at the school.
12:08pm – Witness exit + jury lunch break
11:59 a.m. – Defense cross-examination begins
The defense told the judge there was considerable cross-examination for the next witness.
11:30 a.m. – The prosecution calls the next witness.
Andrew Smith is a lawyer who works for a real estate company. His primary responsibility was managing a real estate portfolio with approximately 700 employees. Jennifer Crumbley was the company’s marketing director.
The first two exhibits were text threads between Smith and Crumbley. Smith pointed out that messages from Crumbley’s cell phone have been deleted. It included an image of the gunman’s math assignment and the text, “The gun is gone, and so are the bullets.”
Smith also said it didn’t matter if Crumbley had to take her son to work or if she had to leave the house. Ms. Crumbley told Ms. Smith that she needed to get counseling for her son.
At around 1pm on November 30th, a scream or scream was heard coming from down the hallway. He saw her running down her hallway. “She recalled her saying there had been a shooting at her child’s school,” he said. She then received a text message on his thread that a gun was missing from her home.
Later, he received a call from Mr. Crumbley, who expressed concern about the shooting at Oxford High School. He said he heard sirens behind him.
Text thread between Jennifer Crumbley and Andrew Smith. Many of these texts were deleted from Jennifer’s cell phone. This is a screenshot from Andrew’s phone.
Smith later said she was a little confused when she heard a text message from Crumbley saying, “Please don’t criticize her.” She said, “She needs a job.” She also said her employment was immediately terminated by the company.
11:25 a.m. – Cross-examination of the prosecution resumes.
Assistant Prosecutor Mark Keast examined many of the facts the shooter’s mother knew about her son, similar to his questioning of Sean Hopkins. These include buying a firearm for her son, hallucinating her son, and taking him to a shooting range a few days ago.
Ijak was then sent home.
10:50 a.m. – Defense cross-examination begins
When the defense asked Ejac about the reaction of the suspect who was carrying the backpack, Ejac said, “He didn’t even seem to care that I was carrying the backpack.” For context, the weapon used in the shooting was in Jennifer Crumbley’s son’s backpack.
Ejak also said there was no need for discipline after the disturbing footage and the moment the gunman was seen examining the bullet.
The defense also asked Ijak if he knew anyone who reported the violent images and drawings to Jennifer Crumbley. He responded that he was unaware of any other interactions other than the meeting in which Crumbley’s parents discussed the math worksheet with the counselor.
Ejac characterized his meeting with Jennifer Crumbley as a mental health matter, not a discipline one. He said there was no proper discipline and he was more concerned about getting the help he needed.
Mr. Ijak was also aware that the gunman had been watching a violent video during class, but he had not seen it.
“The fact that this is ‘not like a live event’ and the fact that most teenagers watch pre-recorded violent movies and video games on YouTube makes this a worrying situation.” Not,” Ejak said. He said.
The defense is asking further questions about how aware Ijak was of the shooter’s activities and whether his knowledge rose to the point where he would consider punishing Jennifer Crumbley’s son.
“He posed no threat to the school,” he said.
Mr. Ejak also testified that local residents love firearms because of their proximity to hunting areas. Firearm hunting season continued during this school assembly.
10:23 a.m. – Jury is seated + prosecution calls witnesses
The first witness called Tuesday was Nicholas Ejac, who was the dean of students at Oxford High School at the time of the shooting.
Ijak had been working in the area for just a few months until November 29th. The first piece of evidence presented during Ijak’s testimony was an email from an English teacher about a student examining bullets in class. The following was written there:
- “Good morning. At the end of the first hour today, I had a student named (shooter’s name). As I was walking around the room handing out essays, at the end of the first hour today, he said, I was looking at the various bullets on my phone, and since it was the end of my time, I didn’t have a chance to investigate further, but he’s on my radar now, and I’m sure he’ll be this year’s I also noticed that some of the previous works I completed at the beginning were quite slanted. They are a little on the violent side, so if you would like, you can read these while preparing for today’s 5th hour. We can work things out later.”
The next day, another teacher mentioned the same student’s drawing for a math assignment. It included pictures of guns and disturbing words.
After reviewing the worksheet, Ejac went to the counselor’s office and asked to speak with Sean Hopkins. Hopkins went to get the gunman out of class and met with him. Ijak attended the meeting.
After being present during a call between the gunman and Mr. Hopkins and Jennifer Crumbley, Mr. Ejak retrieved the gunman’s backpack from the classroom and brought it into his office. His understanding was that they would be able to get psychological help for the shooter.
more: Watch Counselor Sean Hopkins’ testimony here
This wasn’t the first time Ejak had sat in on a meeting that involved trying to connect students to mental health services and coordinating with parents.
Ejac said there was no reasonable suspicion to search the shooter’s backpack. Students usually show signs of nervousness when staff handle their belongings when they have something in their backpack that shouldn’t be there.
He also noted that Jennifer Crumbley’s reaction to asking for help from the shooter that day was “strange” and said she had to get back to work.
The culprit is probably alone at home
Jennifer Crumbley and defense attorney Shannon Smith on the fourth day of their manslaughter trial.
Previous trials
Video shown in court showed the initial police investigation and the first meeting with the Crumbley parents after the gunman killed four students.
Police interview James and Jennifer Crumbley for the first time after school shooting
Hours after the shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, when parents learned what had happened, prosecutors filed initial charges against James and Jennifer Crumbley. I had a police interview.
The prosecutor briefly questioned the criminal division. Joe Bryan of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, who interviewed Sgt.
Brian has had to tell parents about crimes their children have allegedly committed, and the common reaction is for parents to cry, be in disbelief, and ask, “Why?” He testified. – All of these were seen in the reaction of the Crumbley family.
Other witnesses who testified Monday included Kira Pennock, the owner of the farm where the Crumbleys rode their horses, and Sean Hopkins, the school counselor who called the parents to the school the morning of the shooting. It was
Part of the prosecution’s case is the allegation that Crumbley cared for the horses more than his son.
Ms. Pennock testified that Ms. Crumbley did not talk much about her son, and that Ms. Pennock had probably only met Mr. Crumbly’s son once or twice.
Pennock testified that she recalled Crumbley once commenting that her son was “weird” and that she wanted him to do “normal kid things.” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald then asked if Jennifer had ever heard her speak positively about her son.
“There was nothing really positive when she talked about him,” Pennock testified. “There have been many times when she has called him a ‘soft baby’.”
Hopkins said she kept the student in her office while she contacted her parents and drove to school because she was worried about the student being left alone.
Hopkins said her expectations for the meeting are to make plans with her parents to get help for her son, to take him home the same day, and to seek help from a list of therapists and counselors provided. He testified that he wanted it. Neither was achieved.
Hopkins testified that she was surprised and confused by the reaction from her parents. He said Jennifer Crumbley said it was “impossible” to ask her son for help because she had to go back to work that day.
Jennifer Crumbley’s trial evidence includes a meeting with the gunman after the crime
Evidence shown in court Monday during Jennifer Crumbley’s trial included post-attack video of the Oxford High School shooter’s parents with their son, and a video of the Oxford High School shooter’s parents showing concern for their son. It included testimony from a counselor who was called to the school.