By Ed White
Associated Press
PONTIAC (AP) — Jurors on Tuesday saw a photo of an empty gun case and an ammunition box found on a bed after a mass shooting at a Michigan school in 2021.
The open case and box were in James Crumbley's home bedroom. He's the father of Ethan Crumbley, who killed four students and wounded more at Oxford High School.
James Crumbley, 47, is charged with involuntary manslaughter. He's accused of failing to safely store a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun used by his son in the Nov. 30, 2021, attack and ignoring signs of the boy's mental despair.
The gun was purchased by James Crumbley four days earlier during the Thanksgiving weekend. Fifteen-year-old Ethan and his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, used it to shoot at targets at a shooting range.
“I found no evidence that a cable lock was ever installed on that firearm,” federal agent Brett Brandon testified Monday, describing how the gun was kept at the Crumbley home.
Conversely, James Crumbley had two smaller guns in a small gun safe in the house, Oakland County sheriff's detective Adam Stoyek told the jury.
Stoyek testified on the fourth day of trial in suburban Detroit. Prosecutors have been trying to show that the father was grossly negligent in how he took care of a gun that was secretly toted to school by his son.
James Crumbley's attorney has argued that he was not aware that Ethan had access.
Stoyek said James Crumbley was cooperative while in a patrol car in the aftermath of the tragedy. He told the investigator about other guns in the house, including a BB gun, while a video camera recorded them.
“It's unloaded but it looks like a freakin’ assault rifle. Don't freak out when you see that,” James Crumbley said in the video played in court.
The jury saw photos of Ethan's messy bedroom, which had targets from the shooting range displayed on the wall.
The Crumbleys are the first U.S. parents to be charged with having criminal responsibility for a mass school shooting committed by a child. Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of the same involuntary manslaughter charges last month.
The Crumbleys weren't easy to find back in 2021 despite knowing they'd been charged. The jury saw police video of a wee-hours arrest in a friend's Detroit art studio where they were sleeping on the floor, 12 hours after charges were widely publicized.
James Crumbley could he heard wailing before he calmed down. An eagle-eyed coffee roaster in the same commercial building had learned through social media that police were looking for the couple and spotted their Kia vehicle in the parking lot.
“I can't believe it," Luke Kirtley said on a 911 call. “They're here!”
Defense lawyers insist the Crumbleys were not fleeing and had planned to appear in court later that morning.
Ethan Crumbley, now 17, is serving a life prison sentence for murder and terrorism.
He told a judge when he pleaded guilty that the gun was “not locked” when he stuffed it in his backpack before school.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
