Last Updated on March 8, 2024
Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley said that his father James Crumbley “gave me some pills and told me to “Suck it up'” when he brought up his mental health concerns and asked to see a doctor, according to a text message presented as evidence in James Crumbley’s trial for involuntary manslaughter. Ethan is serving a life sentence for murdering four students at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan in 2021. Ethan’s mother Jennifer was already convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
The presence of pills in Ethan Crumbley’s life prior to his shooting spree at age 15 (in which he allegedly held another student hostage for nearly six minutes) is a detail that might go under-reported in the media. James Crumbley’s case basically hinges on whether or not Crumbley should be held criminally liable for allowing Ethan access to a gun and for allegedly ignoring his mental health complaints.
According to the generally agreed-upon timeline of events, the Crumbleys had been called to the school on the morning of the shooting to address an issue with Ethan and they were asked to get the teen a counselor. The Crumbleys left and Ethan remained at school. The dean gave Ethan his backpack back, but did not search inside of it. The backpack had a gun. After it became apparent that a school shooting was underway, James Crumbley checked the location of his firearm at home and the gun was missing, prompting James Crumbley to dial 9-1-1. Jennifer Crumbley’s mother texted “Ethan don’t do it” to the shooter, which she claims meant that she was begging Ethan not to commit suicide.
During mother Jennifer Crumbley’s trial, we learned that Jennifer was having an extramarital affair with a firefighter in a Costco parking lot during her workday once per week with some other visits between the lovers.
James Crumbley’s employment struggles post-Covid came up when Jennifer Crumbley was on the stand in her own trial.
The Crumbleys fled after the shooting but were found and arrested in Detroit:
Ethan Crumbley described seeing a “demon” and said the demon messed up their kitchen. Ethan texted Jennifer, “Ok the house is now haunted…Some wierd s— just happens and now I’m scared…I got some videos…And a picture of the demon…it is throwing BOWLS…I am not joking it f— up the kitchen…I’m just going to be outsider for a while…Can you at least text back.”
But Jennifer was reportedly horseback riding when Ethan texted her about the supposed “demon” and she did not respond to Ethan. Jennifer also said in frenzied texts with her husband that she put Ethan on melatonin after some kind of incident at their house months before the shooting.
Ethan Crumbley recorded a speech prior to his shooting in which he identified himself as “the next school shooter” and rambled about topics including whether or not he would be happy with a career in the military. A general sense of hopelessness about the future pervades the deranged killer’s words.
In the speech, he describes himself as a “demon.” At the 16:45 mark in this MLive video below, Ethan said, “There’s no voices in my head. The voices are me. I am arguing with myself back and forth. I have three constant voices and then there’s me physically. And I’m doing whatever those three voices tell me to do. And one of them is always (inaudible) f— up…That’s what people call the demons…I am the demon. You are the demon. There is a demon in everyone that has the voice. The demon will take over. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
The breakdown of the modern American family is clearly on display in this case, but does James Crumbley’s conduct rise to the level of criminality when another person, his son, was the shooter? Regardless, this modern American tragedy will continue to cause pain and suffering for families, friends and neighbors for a lifetime.
