James Crumbley Trial: Opening statements, first testimony outline day one
PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - James Crumbley's trial began Thursday with opening statements and testimony from two witnesses. Each provided emotional moments as they explained their interactions at Oxford High School. Read the full recap here.
The trial comes after James's wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the Oxford High School shooting, which was committed by their son. James faces the same charges.
Jurors for James's trial were asked some of the same questions that Jennifer's jury pool was asked, with a bigger focus on mental health during James's selection process. Question topics included guns, parental responsibility, mental health, and what "access" means to those picked for the bench.
Here's a breakdown of what played on day one of the trial:
3:45 p.m. - Jury sent home for the day
3:20 p.m. - Crumbley parents called to Oxford High School
Wagrowski also provided testimony about communications between the Crumbley parents on the day of the shooting.
Prior to the shooting, both James and Jennifer were called to the school after a teacher observed the shooter's math assignment showing several disturbing drawings. That included a drawing similar to the weapon used in the shooting.
The meeting happened in the counselor's office.
Metadata from both parents' phones show where they were when they were called, their text messages, phone calls, voicemails, and when they arrived at school. Security footage from the school showed when the Crumbleys arrived after being summoned by the counselor.
2:50 p.m. - Judge orders short break
2:03 p.m. - James communicates with father of shooter's friend
Wagrowski also reviewed text messages on the Crumbley parent's phones.
The text messages between James Crumbley and the father of a good friend of the shooter show a conversation about the friend leaving. His best friend was taken out of school and moved to a clinic because of his obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The Crumbley parents' son was socially isolated by the time his parents bought him a gun, prosecutors have argued.
The evidence extracted from James' phone by Wagrowski shows the timing of that isolation becoming more severe, with his friend moving away on Oct. 30.
1:31 p.m. - Wagrowski describes shooter's rampage
The next round of testimony was Wagrowski's viewing of the security footage from the school. He watched several angles of the scene that involved cameras that were "too many to count" of the shooting.
Wagrowski started with a video time stamped at 12:51 p.m. on Nov. 30. He said the shooter came out of the bathroom with "a proud chest, shoulders back" and began shooting. Wagrowski testified that the shooter leveled the gun and struck two students.
Hana St. Juliana was the first to be fatally shot. Madisyn Baldwin died next, Wagrowski said, saying the shooter struck her in the head. He rounded the corner and continued shooting. Amid the chaos was students running into classrooms and teachers closing their doors.
Tate Myre died when he rounded the corner and was struck in the head. "He had no idea what was happening," Wagrowski said. The shooter then shot at Myre again.
The shooter also shot into multiple classrooms, including at Darnell - who testified earlier in the trial. When he walked back toward Myre, footage shows the assistant principal interacting with the shooter who continued walking.
He then went back into the bathroom, where Justin Shilling was shot. Wagrowski said another student fled out of the bathroom. The shooter was later arrested after the first responding officers got to the hallway. The shooter was taken into custody after he put his arms up and laid down.
The entire scene lasted nine minutes.
12:20 p.m. - Judge breaks for lunch
11:47 a.m. - Edward Wagrowski testifies next
Edward Wagrowski works with the U.S. Secret Service and does cell phone forensics. Before that, he worked with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office in their computer crimes unit. That was his employment during the Oxford shooting.
The goal of his position is to collect as much data from cell phones gathered during an investigation. The data can tell someone when and where a device is at any time.
The first thing he recalled from Nov. 30 was an officer entering his wing of the Oakland County Sheriff's Office that it was all hands on deck after an active shooting was reported at Oxford. He joined a caravan of police cars from varying agencies traveling north.
When he got to the staging area that was the local Meijer near the school, he first started writing down the names of people that were there. He also testified he saw school buses of kids showing up and parents waiting to be reunited with their children.
From there, he was called to the school and taken to the security office where he reviewed video footage. The high school was still being cleared at that time, since the scene was still active.
Edward Wagrowski, who worked as a cell phones forensics analyst for the Oakland County Sheriffs Office during the investigation.
11:07 a.m. - Judge calls short break
10:22 a.m. - First witness Molly Darnell testifies
Molly Darnell worked at Oxford High School as an educator when the shooting happened. She was one of the victims who was shot by the Crumbley parent's son on Nov. 30, 2021. She previously testified during Jennifer's trial.
She told the court she texted her husband "I love you. Active shooter" after she had been shot in her classroom.
Darnell was shot after locking eyes with the shooter. She described him wearing black clothes and only seeing his eyes. She also noticed the gun he was holding, and it didn't have an orange tip. As he raised the gun, his shoulders were square, his stance was about as wide as his waist, she testified.
As he raised the gun, she moved to the right behind the door. The shooter shot through the glass, hitting her in the shoulder. She showed the court the wound, which included where the bullet cauterized her flesh.
The door was locked, but the nightlock which is used as an additional layer of protection to secure a door hadn't been engaged. She then activated it. The sound it made when it engaged stood out to her because all she had to guide her was her senses.
She then moved to barricade herself in the room. That's when she texted her husband and received a message from her daughter. She responded "I'm sheltered in place. I'm safe. And I love you"
She didn't leave the room until the authorities had arrived and they asked her to open the door. An officer then took her to an ambulance. She said the first time she cried was when they were looking at her wound.
Molly Darnell worked as an educator at Oxford High School. On the day of the shooting, she was struck in the shoulder by the son of the Crumbley parents.
9:46 a.m. - "He didn't know"; Defense opens
The defense began their arguments by also placing the jury on the day of the shooting. Marielle Lehman started things by talking about the tragedy at Oxford High School when the Crumbley's son started shooting.
Lehman talked about many of the things that the jury would hear during the trial. But what they wouldn't hear, she said, was that James knew about his son and what he was planning to do.
"James was not aware his son had access. The testimony won't show that. You will not hear that James Crumbley knew what his son was going to do," she said. "You will not hear James even suspected his son was a danger."
The math assignment will be discussed, Lehman said, and people's thoughts on the assignment will be talked about often. But what won't be heard in the court is that James bought the gun with the knowledge that his son would harm other people, she said.
"But what the prosecution wants you to believe, the part that's not true, is that James Crumbley knew what his son was going to do and knew his son had a duty to protect other people from his son," she said. "Ladies and gentlemen, he didn't know."
9:23 a.m. - "They failed to act"; Prosecution opens
The prosecution opened the trial by placing the jury more than two years ago inside Oxford High School, calling Nov. 30, 2021 was a "nightmare come to life."
"There are three people responsible for the deaths" that happened in the school, Prosecutor Marc Keast said. The shooter who committed murder, and his parents, who are "responsible for their gross negligence," Keast said.
The nightmare was preventable and foreseeable, Keast said. He added that James Crumbley was one person in the world in the "best position to stop the shooting."
Details laid out by the prosecution included the cable lock that came with the gun, the moments in the school when the Crumbley parents were called amid concerns about their son's behavior, and some of the messages between James and Jennifer talking about that behavior.
There were other references to James purchasing the gun, his alleged indifference to his son's personal issues, and the intentional dynamic at play in the case. James Crumbley didn't know his son would use the gun to shoot four people, Keast argued. If he did, he'd be charged with murder.
Instead, there were "rare circumstances present in this case" that prove he was grossly negligent in the murder of four teenagers. The conclusion of the shooter's path toward murder were "foreseeable", Keast argued, which is an important element of proving the case.
"James Crumbley isn't charged with what his son did. James Crumbley is charged with what he did and didn't do on Nov. 30," Keast said.
The case isn't about guns or gun laws, Keast finished, adding "This case is about this gun for this kid with these issues."
9:02 a.m. - Jury arrives
The jury arrived around 9 a.m. and opening arguments were expected to begin.
The judge provided about 10 minutes of instructions to the jury. What reasonable doubt is and whether the prosecution has proven one of the two theories that prove involuntary manslaughter did happen will be top of mind for the jury.
The case has some gray area and is relatively novel. Only Jennifer Crumbley's trial offers much of a roadmap for how people may consider James Crumbley's guilt or innocence. The judge also told the jury that they should only consider evidence in this trial since there are multiple defendants in the case.
Additionally, she warned of biases in the case. Matthews cautioned the jury to "take the time you need" to reach a conclusion in the case.
8:47 a.m. - Judge enters court
Judge Cheryl Matthews asked everyone to be in court at around 8:30 a.m. to begin things Thursday. But before the trial could start, both the defense and prosecution had to sort through evidence and whether it can be admitted.
Defense Attorney Mariell Lehman argued there was no relevance for some of the messages and photos that the prosecution was trying to use for the trial.
While the cases between James and Jennifer Crumbley's trial are similar, there are some differences in the evidence that will be used and the strategies exercised by legal teams that cross-examine witnesses.
Who are the jurors?
Nine women and six men make up the 15 people selected for the jury. Only 12 will deliberate with three selected at random to be alternates.
At least 10 of the jurors have kids and several own firearms. Even more grew up with firearms or have experience in a home that had guns.
The jurors' ages range from 25 to 64 years old.
- Man - Unmarried and with no kids who works in IT and has seen brief headlines about the Oxford shooting case. He had few opinions about guns
- Man - Art director at an advertising agency who is single, no kids, and likes to hunt. He owns a rifle and a shotgun and stores them in a closet
- Man - Nurse practitioner who is married with two kids
- Woman - A foster parent with three kids.
- Woman - Part-time dental office worker with two kids who is married.
- Woman - Stay-at-home mom with two kids and a third on the way. Her husband works as a social worker
- Woman - Former personal trainer and widow who used to own her own gym.
- Man - Machinist with two kids who is married
- Man - Data analyst whose wife works in advertising and has two sons. Likes to hunt
- Woman - Teacher who used to teach in elementary grade students and now teaches music. Neither her nor her husband grew up with guns
- Woman - Married with two kids and owns firearms. They raised a child who struggled with mental illness
- Man - Residential trash worker who grew up around guns in Upper Peninsula. He told the court he didn’t want to be "buckless yooper" when he went hunting as a kid. He doesn't follow the case, but his wife did
- Woman - Retired registered nurse who never had any kids but helped parent her nephew due to her sister’s mental illness
- Woman - Full-time telecom expense management company employee who grew up in a family of hunters
- Woman - Human Resources employee at a community health organization. She has dealt with mental health struggles in her family
What is James Crumbley charged with?
James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count for each student killed by his son at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021.
A jury found his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, guilty of the same charges in early February. She will be sentenced on April 9.
What did James Crumbley do?
James Crumbley is accused of buying his son the gun used to kill four people and injure others.
His son pleaded guilty to all charges against him and is now in prison. During his plea hearing, he admitted that he gave James the money to buy the gun.
During Jennifer's trial, she testified that the gun was her husband's responsibility; she said she was not comfortable with guns and was not involved in handling or buying it. She also testified that James had hidden the gun before their son took it to school.
The parents are also accused of ignoring concerns about their son's mental health.
Witnesses called by the prosecution during Jennifer's trial described a meeting between the Crumbley parents and school officials the morning of the shooting. The parents were called after violent drawings were discovered on their son's schoolwork.
During this meeting, a school counselor told the parents to get their son mental health help as soon as possible and recommended that they take him home from school. However, the parents chose not to take him home.
What kind of sentence is James Crumbley facing?
Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison in Michigan. The court does have the discretion to do consecutive sentencing, which, due to the four counts, would be 60 years. However, the maximum he could get will likely be 15 years.