Parents of alleged Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley back in court
The mother of accused Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley drunkenly purchased a horse online for $5,000 — and later confided in the trainer boarding the animal that her son “ruined so many lives” in the massacre, according to testimony Tuesday.
Kira Pennock, 25, who runs the farm where the Crumbley family kept two horses, took the stand at a preliminary hearing in a Rochester court to decide whether there’s enough evidence for the case against Ethan’s parents, Jennifer and James, to go to trial.
Around an hour and half after the shooting occurred at Oxford High School, Pennock testified, she got a concerning Facebook message from the mom: “I need to sell my horses. Stat.”
“My son ruined so many lives today,” Jennifer wrote in another message that Pennock read on the stand.
Pennock replied, “This doesn’t even remotely make me think this is your fault.”
The Crumbley parents are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for buying Ethan, 15, a gun and not safely storing it. They have pleaded not guilty.
Their son, Ethan, is accused of killing four and injuring seven others on Nov. 30 in the school shooting.
Ethan has been charged for 24 crimes as an adult, including terrorism and first-degree murder. His attorneys are planning to plead an insanity defense.
Pennock testified Tuesday that she gave Jennifer horseback riding lessons and housed the family’s horses — one of which the trainer testified that the mom bought online for $5k after a night of drinking.
On the day of the shooting, Jennifer was scheduled to have a riding lesson and planned to bring along Ethan, Pennock said.
“He can’t be left alone,” Jennifer said in a message, according to the trainer.
The same day, Jennifer had gone to meet with counselors at Ethan’s school about a violent drawing that he had made of a gun on a test hours before the shooting.
She had sent Pennock a picture of the disturbing scrawling, which the trainer said left her “very alarmed.”
Amanda Holland, Jennifer’s coworker, also testified Tuesday that the mother showed her Ethan’s drawing — and said she urged her to take him out of school for the day.
“I said it would be nice for her to take him for a day, go see a movie, go have lunch, do something with him,” Holland said, recounting a conversation she had with Jennifer in the time between the parents’ meeting at the school and the deadly shooting.
“She should’ve brought him home. I thought this child needed to be around family,” the witness said.
Prosecutors are expected to call around 30 witnesses to testify against the parents, who are accused of ignoring warning signs of their son’s behavior.
On Tuesday, Judge Julie Nicholson blasted the parents for being disrespectful during the proceedings and barred them from any courtroom communication.
“While maybe I’m looking away or someone else is looking away, you’re not to have communication with each other. It’s disruptive. It’s disrespectful,” the judge said.
The two have been seen blowing kisses and mouthing “I love you” to each other during previous court proceedings. Prosecutors have told the judge that these “disrespectful” displays of affection in court need to stop.
“These communications … not only disparage the integrity of the judicial proceedings as a serious distraction, but are also traumatic for families of the deceased victims,” Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Markeisha Washington wrote, according to court filings.
In the week before the shooting, James took his teenage son to buy the firearm that he allegedly used in the attack. Jennifer posted pictures on social media the day after the purchase at a gun range with Ethan, saying the two were “testing out his new Christmas present.”
The couple gained notoriety when they fled in the direct aftermath of the shooting, launching a manhunt that led to their subsequent arrest.
Much of their parenting will be put under a microscope if the case goes to trial, as prosecutors try to prove the parents ignored warning signs and didn’t properly get their son help.
While Ethan will be represented by a court-appointed lawyer, Jennifer and James have hired a high-powered legal team for themselves, including Shannon Smith, who represented disgraced USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
In court, Jennifer was seen in a black and white jail jumpsuit wearing a mask below her nose, while James was clad in an orange jumpsuit.
With Post wires
