CBS News
Watch Live: Verdict in for Jennifer Crumbley, mother of Oxford High School shooter
(CBS DETROIT) – The jury has returned a verdict in the trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the Oxford High School shooter.
Jury deliberations began Monday after a week-long trial to determine if the mother bears any responsibility for the Oxford High School shooting, where her son killed four students, Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Hana St. Juliana, and injured seven other people on Nov. 30, 2021.
Jennifer Crumbley is the first parent in the United States to go on trial in a mass school shooting carried out by their child.
The trial for her husband, James Crumbley, is scheduled for March. They were both charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
The parents are accused of not getting their son the necessary help for his mental health needs and for purchasing the gun for their son, which was used in the shooting.
The shooter was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December.
Closing arguments in the trial of Jennifer Crumbley
Jennifer Crumbley’s cross-examination ended Friday, and closing arguments began after a week of testimony, in which the mother also took the stand herself.
The prosecution and the defense each spent over an hour making their closing arguments.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in her closing argument that it wasn’t easy to watch the trial and hear about how the four students were killed in the Oxford High School shooting.
The prosecution argues that the mother should be held partially responsible for the deaths of the four students because she ignored signs of the shooter’s mental health needs and purchased the gun that her son used in the shooting.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said “just the smallest steps” by the mother could have prevented the deaths of the four students.
The defense maintains that Jennifer Crumbley did her best at being an attentive parent and did not know about the journal entries her son made where he talked about his mental health struggles and the shooting.
Shannon Smith, Jennifer Crumbley’s attorney, said the prosecution had “cherry-picked” evidence to show the innocent mother as being a negligent parent.
What was revealed during the testimony of the Jennifer Crumbley trial
Several people testified in Jennifer Crumbley’s trial.
Shawn Hopkins, a counselor at Oxford High School, testified about how teachers had emailed him with concerns they had about the shooter.
He also spoke about the meeting he had with the Crumbley parents the morning of the shooting, which was prompted after a teacher found violent drawings on his math assignment. Hopkins said that if the parents didn’t get their son their son the therapy he needed for his mental health within 48 hours, he planned to contact Child Protective Services.
The former dean of students at Oxford High School, Nicholas Ejak, testified that there was no “reasonable suspicion” to search the shooter’s backpack the morning of the shooting.
Detectives testified about responding to the school on the day of the shooting and finding Jennifer Crumbley after she was charged.
Brian Meloche, a friend of Jennifer Crumbley’s from high school, also testified. While he was on the stand, the jury learned about the affair between Meloche and Jennifer Crumbley.
Facebook messages exchanged between the two before and after the shooting were shown in court.
On Dec. 2, Jennifer Crumbley messaged Meloche about the involuntary manslaughter charges.
“We’re on the run again. Helicopters not sure where to I’ll message you,” Crumbley said.
On Dec. 3, the mother messaged Meloche about how school officials said the shooter could stay in school.
“His f—— backpack was with him why didn’t they search it?” Jennifer Crumbley said.
Journal entries made by the shooter were also shown in court during the testimony of Timothy Willis, a detective lieutenant with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, who found the journal in the shooter’s backpack.
Here are some of the things the shooter wrote in the journal:
- “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.”
- “My parents won’t listen to me about help or a therapist.”
- “I want to shoot up the f—— school so badly.”
- “Soon I am going to buy a 9 mm pistol.”
- “I’m about to shoot up the school and spend the rest of my life in prison.”
- “First off, I got my gun. It’s a SP 2022 Sig Sauer 9mm. Second the shooting is tomorrow. I have access to the gun and the ammo. I am fully committed to this now. So yeah…I’m going to prison for life and many people have about one day left to live.”
Jennifer Crumbley also took the stand in her trial and said she wouldn’t have done anything differently as a mother but wishes her son would have acted differently in reference to the shooting.
“I wish he would have killed us instead,” Jennifer Crumbley said.
She said that she never would have thought that her son would put other people in danger.
“As a parent, you spend your whole life trying to protect your child from other dangers,” Jennifer Crumbley said. “You never would think you would have to protect your child from harming somebody else. That’s what blew my mind. That was the hardest thing I had to stomach, was that my child harmed and killed people.”
She testified that her husband was responsible for storing the gun that was used on the day of the shooting.
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.