Jennifer Crumbley countered claims that she was a ‘negligent’ mother as she told the court she and her school shooter son were ‘close’ – but admitted he developed at least 13 cavities as he barely brushed his teeth and spent most of his time in a squalid bedroom.
The mom’s claim that they were close came just a day after her extramarital affair was exposed in court, as prosecutors argued she was focused on her tryst with a fire captain over her disturbed son.
She took the stand in her own defense on Thursday as prosecutors wrap up the manslaughter case against her, where she is facing up to 60 years in prison in the first case of a parent being charged over a student’s school shooting.
She insisted that her son Ethan – who is now serving life in prison without parole – could ‘go to her with anything’, hours after breaking down in tears as her son’s final diary entries were revealed.
The disturbing diary entries appeared to oppose her statements they were ‘close’, as Ethan wrote that ‘my parents won’t listen to me about help or therapist,’ and ‘I have zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up the f****** school.’
Her testimony came after a detective also broke down at the emotional trial as he spoke about the four young victims in the school shooting.
Jennifer Crumbley pictured taking the stand in her own defense on Thursday, where she countered claims she was a negligent mother by testifying over her ‘close’ relationship with her school shooter son
Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to his crimes and is currently serving life in jail
Jennifer said that she barely entered her son’s squalid bedroom as it was so messy, and testified that he was so bad at brushing his teeth he developed at least 13 cavities
Jurors at the involuntary manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley were shown disturbing drawings by mass shooter son Ethan hours before he opened fire at Oxford High school, killing four
Jennifer appeared tearful on the stand and said speaking before others is her ‘biggest fear’, and began her testimony with warm recollections of her ‘normal’ family life before the tragedy.
She said that Ethan’s school life was a struggle as he couldn’t concentrate on any subject besides history, and ‘our biggest issue was (Ethan) missing assignments.’
When asked if she had ever searched through Ethan’s text messages or internet history, she said she would never do so and only ever looked through his ‘messy’ bedroom.
Jennifer faced backlash after it was found that her husband had purchased the 9mm handgun Ethan used in the shooting, however she testified that it was intended to be locked with a ‘cable lock’ and only ever used at a shooting range.
She shared a ‘happy’ social media post from the day she first took Ethan to the shooting range, saying that while she found shooting to be boring, it was a surprise to be asked by her son to spend time with him.
Crumbley recalled a time earlier in the year when she had been called into her son’s school because he had been looking up ammunition in class, which she brushed off as seeming like ‘not a big deal’ at the time.
The crutch of the prosecutor’s argument falls on the perceived lack of action Ethan Crumbley’s parents took in the lead up to the shooting, missing multiple red flags including seeing hallucinations.
Around nine months before the shooting, his paranoid state was evident in texts to his mother, where he believed their family home was haunted.
In one text in March 2021, Ethan texted his mom, ‘Dude my door just slammed…. maybe it’s just my paranoia.’
He bought a Ouija board and claimed to see a ghost around their home that he named ‘Boris Johnson’, although Crumbley said some of her son’s antics should be taken with a pinch of salt as he enjoyed ‘messing around.’
Prosecutors allege that Ethan’s cries for help were ignored by his parents, alleging that Jennifer laughed at him and James told him to ‘suck it up’ when he asked for medical help.
Before her testimony, Jennifer Crumbley broke down in tears as her son’s disturbing diary entries were read to the court on Thursday, in which he claimed his parents ignored his pleas for help
In one diary entry shown on Thursday, Ethan wrote: ‘I have zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up the f****** school’
‘I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help’, read another entry
‘My mum laughed when I told her,’ Ethan wrote to a friend around the time, adding that he would have called 911 about voices in his head but he didn’t want to anger his parents.
Jennifer denied ever laughing at her son’s struggles, and said he never once brought up hearing voices.
The issue of Ethan’s school life came under scrutiny because on the day of the school shooting, he was caught by a teacher drawing disturbing images of murders and shootings on his homework.
Despite writing ‘the thoughts won’t stop, help me’, both of his parents declined to take him home and left him at the school, where he had a handgun secretly in his backpack.
At the time, Jennifer claimed she was too busy at work to take him home, however questions were raised over whether she had been carrying out an affair with a local fire captain instead – a revelation that only came to light on Wednesday.
The fire captain, Brian Meloche, testified Wednesday that Crumbley told him she could sneak off from work that morning to meet up with him.
He added that the two of them would typically carry out their secret tryst on the mornings of workdays in a parking lot across from her job – although Crumbley testified that they would only meet once a week maximum.
On Wednesday, Jennifer’s extramarital affair with fire captain Brian Meloche was exposed
Jennifer Crumbley’s former boss Andrew Smith testified Wednesday that she would have been allowed to leave work if she had to tend to her son, opposing her statements to police that she had to work as she kept Ethan in school
The actions Jennifer took on the day of the shooting have taken center stage in her trial this week, as prosecutors claim she played a role in not preventing Ethan from carrying out the shooting.
When she and her husband James – who is facing the same charges and is set to stand trial in March – were called into the school, they said they were too busy with work.
Aside from claims she may have been with Meloche, Jennifer said she wouldn’t be able to watch her son that day as she had to work – a claim countered by her former boss.
Andrew Smith, who fired Crumbley in the days after her son’s school shooting, took the stand Wednesday to insist that she would have been allowed to leave work for the day if she said she needed to take care of her son.
He added that if she needed to bring Ethan to work with her, that would have also been allowed.
As she returned to work following the alarming meeting, Smith testified that later that morning saw Jennifer Crumbley racing down the hall of their workplace, screaming over an active shooter report at her son’s school.
As she then left work, Crumbley texted her boss that ‘the gun is gone and so are the bullets’ in her home, which he said he was ‘surprised’ to be told by the mother.
In another text shown in court, Crumbley told her boss: ‘I need my job. Please don’t judge me for what my son did.’
Smith testified that Crumbley was fired from her job days after the shooting, as she and her husband appeared to try and evade police by hiding in Detroit. Her lawyer argued she fled due to threats from the public over her son’s actions.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were both charged in connection with their son’s shooting, the first time parents have faced charges over a school shooting
As scrutiny fell on Jennifer’s actions in the aftermath of the shooting, it was revealed Thursday that she and her husband had emptied their son’s bank account on the day of the shooting, withdrawing $3,000 and leaving just 99 cents inside.
In the days following the shooting, the couple appeared to try and flee as police sought them for questioning, and withdrew another $6,000 from two other accounts, according to testimony from Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Timothy Willis.
The couple stayed at several hotels and bought new phones, after theirs had been seized by investigators, before eventually hiding out in an art studio in Detroit.
Jennifer’s attorneys argued she was not trying to escape custody, but was fearing for her life after threats were allegedly made following her son’s crime.
Footage of their dramatic arrest inside the studio was shown to jurors the day before, showing the frantic moments they were taken into custody.
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