ROCHESTER HILLS, Michigan – Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of a teenage boy who committed a school shooting, took the stand for the second day in her trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. She and her husband are the first parents of a school shooter to face felony charges in the US for their child’s actions.
The Crumbleys’ son, Ethan, is serving a life sentence for the November 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, which left four students dead. During the trial, a friend testified that Jennifer had been having an affair when Ethan carried out the shooting. It was also revealed that she and a firefighter chief allegedly held sex parties at hotels, arranging “meet-ups” using a swingers app.
Prosecutors argued that Jennifer failed to do things that could have prevented the deaths, claiming she knew her son was in a “downward spiral” mentally. The defense, however, argued that she had no way of knowing that her son would commit such an act. The responsibility of ensuring a trigger lock was on the gun that Ethan used was also brought into question, placing the blame on James Crumbley instead of Jennifer. The trial continues to unfold as it delves further into the events leading up to the tragic shooting.