Jennifer Crumbley testifies • Smash-and-grab suspects arrested • Declining enrollment leads to school closings

FRIDAY NEWS HIT - Jennifer Crumbley will continue to testify today in her involuntary manslaughter trial.

When Crumbley took the stand Thursday, she discussed her family, messages from her son, the Oxford High School shooter, and her version of a meeting with her son's school counselor.

Today, prosecutors will question Crumbley.

A big focus of her testimony was how she interpreted messages her son sent her months before the school shooting. Those texts have previously been shown in court as evidence that he exhibited signs of mental health struggles to his mother.

Jennifer's attorney first questioned her about messages the shooter sent to her on March 17, 2021, while she was away from home riding her horse. Within a half-hour period that evening, he texted his mother telling her the house was haunted.

In those messages, he said he took a photo of a demon and that it was throwing bowls. Jennifer did not reply. When asked if she thought these messages were indicative of a mental health issue, she said no; she thought he was just messing with her.

Jennifer testified that her son had thought the family's home was haunted since 2015 because it was built in the 1920s.

When questioned about other similar messages, she repeatedly said she thought he was just messing with her.

Watch Friday's testimony live at the link below:

6 suspects arrested after string of jewelry store thefts

Six suspects are in custody after authorities say they stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from stores in Michigan and Ohio.

Authorities say they recovered $170,000 worth of jewelry when they arrested the suspects, who are from Detroit, on Jan. 24.

At Great Lakes mall, three of the suspects, in hoodies and surgical masks, stole about $11,000 worth of jewelry from Helzberg Diamonds – smashing the cases with sledgehammers and ensuing panic among shoppers.

After the Jan. 13 robbery, "a suspect vehicle was identified that registered to a rental company," according to police. "Subsequently, the renter was also identified. A short time later, that vehicle was returned to a Lansing rental location and a new vehicle was rented."

On Jan. 22, Troy police were notified of another smash-and-grab robbery at Kay Jewelers in Lansing Mall. The Eaton County Sheriff's Office discovered that the getaway vehicle was the same one that was newly rented from the Lansing rental location.

"Further investigation concluded this same group was responsible for a total of six robberies in Michigan and Ohio," according to police.

Courtez Lawtence, Jasmine Oneal, Desean Hall, Deshawn Hammonds, Eric Lambert Bennett, and Andre Jackson were arrested and charged with armed robbery after their vehicle was surveilled.

485 Michigan schools close from declining enrollment

Michigan school districts are losing aid money as schools close due to declining enrollment.

"When you have all of your money coming in based on the number of kids, and you have fewer kids, you have less money and most of the costs are fixed and they still went up," said Don Wotruba, executive director Michigan School Boards.

In 2010: There were 3,255 school buildings in Michigan In 2020: There were 2,870 school buildings.

The total loss is 12% and expected to grow, while the loss of pupils hits disadvantaged communities harder in Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Pontiac school districts.

So far, Lansing is not on that critical where 30% of the school buildings in those areas have been shuttered.

School boards are faced with the possibility of running out of money or closing schools to stay afloat. But angry parents make the finances even worse by acting out against the board, if they close the buildings.

75-year-old woman dies after falling into icy pond

Reports of a dog trapped on ice on Hubbell Pond in Milford Township led first responders to a 75-year-old woman in the water. She was rescued but later died Thursday.

When police and firefighters responded to help the dog around 1:40 p.m., they noticed belongings in the water, including a coat floating near the surface of the water. This led to a search and the discovery of the woman in the water.

She was taken to a hospital, where she died around 7 p.m.

This incident is being used as a warning about ice safety.

"Given the temperature fluctuations recently, we urge the community to assume all ice is not safe for pedestrian or vehicular traffic" Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. "If an animal goes through the ice, do not attempt to go out and save them as you can become a victim as well. That’s the moment you should give us a call."

Beware of DTE website scam

Scammers are taking advantage of people just trying to pay their DTE Energy bills.

When looking up "pay DTE," websites not belonging to DTE are coming up in search results. These sites, which say "Energy billing services" or "Energy Billing Depart.," are tricking people into handing over personal information.

"Folks are clicking on it, and unknowingly they’re calling scammers and providing them with all kinds of information," said Angie Pizzuti, the senior vice president of customer service at DTE.

The scammers are paying for search engine ads to get placed at the top of the results.

"We have had some customers have fallen prey to this," Pizzuti said. "Luckily if they’ve given payment information using a debit or credit card, they’ve been successful in getting that reversed with their financial institution."

Now, DTE and others are working to stop these ads.

"It is something we’ve just seen popping up over the past 4-6 weeks and it’s popping all over the country," she said. "We’re working with other utilities and aggressively trying to flag these ads and get them removed."

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Daily Forecast

We'll get some sun this weekend!

What else we're watching

1. Detroit police are investigating a fatal shooting on the city's southwest side. It happened around 11:40 p.m. Thursday.
2. President Joe Biden spoke to United Auto Workers members in Warren after meeting with union leaders Thursday - even though the Metro Detroit reception wasn't entirely welcoming. Watch his speech here.
3. A major lawsuit filed against Michigan State University over the Larry Nassar scandal has been dropped and those behind it believe they are closer to learning the truth.
4. A missing 14-year-old Washington girl was found in Michigan, and a 30-year-old man was arrested.
5. Winter Blast, Plymouth Ice Festival, and more - here's what's going on this weekend.

FBI warns of tech-support scammers sending in-person couriers to your door

The FBI is warning that online scammers are getting more personalized in their approach, sometimes even sending in-person couriers to your door.

The federal law enforcement agency this week issued a warning about how scammers are using couriers to steal cash and other valuables from unsuspecting people – mostly senior citizens – who fall victim to "tech-support and government impersonation scams."

The first part of the scam involves swindlers posing as "tech support or U.S. government officials." They tell victims that their financial accounts were hacked, or are at risk of being hacked, and that their funds need to be protected.

The victims are told to liquidate their assets into cash and/or to buy "gold, silver, or other precious metals to protect their funds," the FBI said in the notice. Sometimes, scammers instruct people to wire funds to a metal dealer who will ship the precious metals to victims' homes.

Read more here.