LOCKED-UP LOVE! Lawyer demands Ethan Crumbley's parents stop blowing kisses in court
Prosecutors have demanded action against "inappropriate" and "disrespectful" displays of affection in the courtroom between James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of accused Michigan high school shooter Ethan Crumbley.
According to a court filing obtained by the Detroit Free Press, James, 45, and Jennifer Crumbley, 43, have been blowing kisses and mouthing the words "I love you" to each other during hearings. Their conduct prompted the prosecution in the case as well as the families of the school shooting victims to ask a judge to put a stop to it. "Mr. & Mrs. Crumbley's conduct in court makes a mockery of the crimes they are accused of committing," Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Williams said in a statement Wednesday, February 2. "The courtroom is not a place for blowing kisses and sending secret signals. This is a time for families to pursue justice."
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The Crumbleys, who allowed their son access to the gun allegedly used in the November shooting at Oxford High School, are charged with involuntary manslaughter. 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley is facing terrorism and murder charges after allegedly carrying out the shooting that claimed the lives of four students and injured several others. His attorney revealed last week that he plans to plead insanity.
"These communications ... not only disparage the integrity of the judicial proceedings as a serious distraction but are also traumatic for the families of the deceased victims," Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Markeisha Washington wrote of James and Jennifer's conduct during the hearings. "Their communication is far more distracting and offensive than a cell phone going off, which the court would not condone."
The call to end the Crumbleys' courtroom antics came after prosecutors were contacted by several family members of the victims, asking why Ethan's parents were allowed to communicate during the proceedings. According to the court filing, James Crumbley was seen in one December hearing "with his mask partially pulled down, mouthed what appeared to be 'I love you' to his wife." Viewers noted, "Additional nonverbal communication" between the couple at the same hearing. Then, at a January 7 hearing via Zoom, the Crumbleys "remained on-screen during (a) breakout session and ...Jennifer Crumbley signaled and mouthed to (her husband) what appeared to be 'I love you,' waved at him, and continued to signal and mouth words to him."
Now, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has requested a judge to prohibit the Crumbleys from engaging in any physical, verbal, or nonverbal contact during the hearings. The defense has since "expressed a willingness" to get the suspects to comply, according to the Free Press.
The Crumbleys were called to their son's school just hours before he opened fire on his schoolmates. They were summoned to discuss Ethan's disturbing behavior that included drawings depicting a gun, a bullet, lots of blood, a shooting victim, as well as a laughing emoticon. He reportedly also wrote how his "thoughts won't stop, help me"; "my life is useless" and "the world is dead." After the meeting, the Crumbleys left their son in school to finish his classes, just hours before he carried out the shooting. "They did not intervene. They did not schedule therapy," Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Marc Keast previously said in court. "Instead, they bought him what he desperately wanted, a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun." James and Jennifer Crumbley were apprehended on December 4 after they were found hiding in an art studio in Detroit.