A 15-year-old Oxford High sophomore, Ethan Crumbley, went on a killing spree and opened fire in the corridor of the Michigan school killing 4 students on November 30. New reports that have come to light allege that the shooter had shown signs needing help which were ignored by his parents. Ethan Crumbley used his father's gun to wreak havoc in the school and his parents, James and Jennifer, are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Oxford High School killings.
According to DailyMail, prosecutors revealed Thursday, December 23 a drawing of a gun on a math homework sheet by Ethan Crumbley. He had also scrawled the messages, 'My life is useless,' 'Blood everywhere' and 'The thoughts won't stop, help me.' The prosecutors alleged that Ethan's mother, Jennifer, 43, was aware of the 'troubling' drawing and his apparent potential and intent for violence, but chose to ignore the same.
Jennifer was accused of turning a blind eye to the 'disturbing signs' shown by his son as she was busy having an extramarital affair. The identity of Jennifer's lover is not known at the moment. Prosecutors filings also indicated that she talked about the murder weapon with her boyfriend over text.
'I love my life so much!!!'
Ethan Crumbley allegedly scribbled the drawings and the messages on the morning of the fateful day when he carried a gun gifted by his father to school and went on a killing rampage. A teacher had found the drawings, and notified a counselor, who, in turn, had shown them to his parents the same morning. Prosecutors alleged that it was a pattern of signs 'needing help' which were ignored by the Crumbley's for over six months.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald released two versions of Ethan's drawing in the filing. In the second one, Ethan had allegedly crossed out the disturbing messages, adding ones like 'video game this is,' 'we're all friends here,' 'harmless act,' 'I love my life so much!!!!' and 'OHS rocks!' Prosecutors claimed in the court documents that even after being aware of the 'disturbing' drawings, Ethan's parents failed to take even the simplest action that could've prevented the fateful tragedy.
Extramarital affair and horses
The prosecutor, Karen McDonald argued that instead of attending to their teenage son, his mother, Jennifer was busy pursuing an extramarital affair and parents together spent a huge amount of time on their horses. The prosecutor further claimed that Jennifer had texted her boyfriend on the day of the shooting that the murder weapon had been in her car.
James, 45, and Jennifer were arrested on December 4 and have been in jail ever since on $500,000 bond. Their attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman requested that their bond be lowered to $100,000 each and ensured that the couple would wear electronic monitors if released from jail in Wednesday's filings. McDonald, however, believes that the Crumbley couple is a flight risk as they're looking to sell their assets, including their horses and house. Thursday's filings by the prosecutors were an attempt to keep the Crumbleys' bail at $500,000.
