Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, testified in court in her own defense as she faced involuntary manslaughter charges.
Crumbley's lawyer, Shannon Smith, said that the gunman's mother was set to take the stand and tell the court about her life, her son, and what Ethan did that she could never have predicted.
The mother was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the November 2021 incident that left four students dead and seven others injured. In December 2021, she pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A separate trial for her husband, James Crumbley, who is also facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter, is scheduled to start in March this year. The latest trial is a rare case of parents being criminally charged in relation to their child's mass shooting.
Jury selection for the trial was finished on Wednesday and resulted in 12 jurors and five alternates. Prosecutors on Thursday began with opening statements and argued that the Crumbleys did not properly secure the firearm that their son used in the shooting, as per ABC News.
They also argued that the mother was "still given the opportunity" to prevent the shooting from happening on the day that her son did it, but chose not to. A few days before the horrific incident, a teacher allegedly saw Ethan researching ammunition in class. The school then contacted his parents but they did not respond.
However, it was later found that Jennifer did text her son, writing, "Lol, I'm not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught." Then, a few hours before the shooting, the prosecution alleged that a teacher saw a note on Ethan's desk that was a "drawing of a semi-automatic handgun pointing at the words, 'The thoughts won't stop, help me.'"
In a separate section of the note, teachers said they saw the drawing of a bullet with the following words above it, "Blood everywhere." The Crumbleys were then called to school over the incident and said that they would get their son counseling but let Ethan stay at school.
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Charges of Involuntary Manslaughter
Assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said that the gunman's mother was aware of her son's deteriorating mental health and social isolation. Quoting a social media post, he said that the purchase of the handgun was celebrated by Jennifer on Instagram, according to the Associated Press.
Following the meeting where the Crumbleys left their son at school, Ethan proceeded to go on a shooting spree and kill four students and injure several others. In his opening statement, Keast said that while Jennifer did not pull the trigger herself, she was still responsible for the deaths of the victims.
On the other hand, the parents' defense attorneys have argued that the charges against them have no legal justification but appeals courts have upheld them anyway. Smith said in the defense's opening statements that Jennifer did not know about her son's deteriorating mental health.
Instead, the defense attorney shifted the blame to Jennifer's husband, who was the one who purchased the firearm for their son. She also blamed the school for failing to notify her client about Ethan's problematic behavior, said CNN.
