Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Ethan Crumbley, who killed four students and injured seven others at Oxford High School in 2021, testified in her defense on Thursday.
She is on trial for four counts of involuntary manslaughter, for allegedly failing to intervene and prevent her son’s rampage on November 30th, 2021. If convicted, she will be serving 15 years in prison. Her husband, James Crumbley, 47, faces the same charges and will be tried separately in March.
Jennifer Crumbley took the stand around 10 a.m. and was questioned by her attorney, Shannon Smith, for about two hours. She was then cross-examined by the prosecutor, Karen McDonald, for about an hour and a half. During her testimony, Jennifer often broke down in tears, wiped her nose with tissues, and spoke in a soft and shaky voice.
She said that she was not aware that her son had access to a gun, which her husband had bought for him as a Christmas present on November 26th, 2021, four days before the shooting. She also didn’t know that her husband had taken their son to a shooting range and that he had left the gun unlocked and unsecured in their home.
Jennifer also said that she was not aware of the seriousness of the situation, when she and her husband were summoned to the school for a meeting with the school counselor, who had found a disturbing drawing in Ethan’s notebook.
The drawing shows a gun, a bullet, a person being shot, and the words “the thoughts won’t stop, help me”. Jennifer said that she did not see the drawing, and that the counselor did not explain to her what it meant. To her it was just a doodle, and that her son was not in trouble.
Her testimony was the last one for the defense, which rested its case after calling six witnesses, including Jennifer’s sister, brother-in-law, and former lover.
The prosecution called more than 20 witnesses, including school officials, police officers, and experts, who presented evidence that Jennifer Crumbley knew or should have known about her son’s violent plans and access to a gun, and that she failed to act on the day of the shooting.
