Ethan Crumbley: Oxford High School shooter made plans to ‘rape, torture, and kill’ female student
OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: During a hearing on Tuesday, February 22, to decide whether to send Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley to a juvenile facility as he waits for his trial to start, two very different sides of him were presented by prosecutors and defense attorneys. The 15-year-old sophomore is accused of carrying out a shooting rampage inside his school on November 30 that took the lives of four of his classmates and injured seven others, including a teacher. He is currently facing 24 felonies charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism.
While Oakland County prosecutors alleged that Crumbley was “calculated” and “enjoyed his dark side,” his defense team claimed that the teenager’s mental status was not in good shape and he needed help before the incident. Prosecutors also mentioned that before carrying out the alleged crime, the suspect had written in text messages and a private journal about the kind of firearm he needed to “maximize the number of kills”, who would be his first target, and his plan to surrender “to witness the pain and suffering he caused.”
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Not just that, Crumbley had made plans to “rape, torture and ultimately kill a female classmate” and that he “expressed delight in torturing a family of baby birds.” Assistant Prosecutor Markeisha Washington claimed that the teenager also admired Adolf Hitler and Jeffrey Dahmer and had said, “When you die, you need to be remembered for a long time doing something that will make people think of you until time ends.”
Washington told Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Kwame Rowe, “The defendant's anti-social behavior is very concerning. The evidence will show he bragged about wearing a mask to the public. He enjoyed his dark side.” Fellow Oakland County assistant prosecutor Kelly Collins objected to the defense’s demand to shift Crumbley to Children’s Village as it “mirrors the scene of the crime” the boy is charged with.
Collins said the accused had sent a message to his friend and wrote, “In public, you have to put on a mask to blend in.” She added: “And according to the defendant ... 'the scary thing is, I like being this f----- up.’ That is the kind of person that we are contemplating placing with other juveniles that are much less sophisticated, that are at risk, that he would gravitate to.”
The prosecutor insisted that shifting Crumbley to the juvenile facility would be “completely inappropriate, and against the interests of justice.” She said, “The defendant committed the calculated premeditated mass murder upon other juveniles in a structured school setting. He anticipated and wrote about his expected life behind bars with the intention that he would be remembered forever. He contemplated the pros and cons of going out in a blaze of glory.”
Besides, Collins mentioned a request from Crumbley on December 17 to get his “fan mail.” She said: “He knows that he's going to have people admire him and people who hate him alike and he wants that notoriety. Overall, he indicates (to juveniles he exchanges emails with) that it's not so bad in here. I got a TV, I get good food, the deputies are nice. He also takes time to mention to some of his fans out there 'my next court date is Feb. 22, maybe you can watch it on TV.’”
But Crumbley's attorney Paulette Loftin defended him and portrayed him as a troubled teen who was in urgent need of help before the tragedy. Loftin told the court, “He was not sleeping, he was extremely anxious. He was not eating properly ... and he asked his parents to see a therapist. And at the time of this event, my client was not in any sort of therapy.” About being held at an adult jail, she added that “this extreme isolation is not beneficial whatsoever, and actually harms Mr. Crumbley.”
Heather Calcaterra, manager of Children’s Village, also testified in court on Tuesday and expressed her concern regarding the impact of taking in a juvenile accused in a school shooting on other inmates. She also said that the establishment has “staffing issues”. Calcaterra said, “We don’t know how the defendant’s presence on the campus, on the unit, will trigger other young people in Oakland County. I’m also concerned for his safety. I do not know if he would be a target.”