Are Ethan Crumbley's parents suicidal? 'Flight risk' couple placed on suicide watch
OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley's parents were arrested on December 4, 2021, and charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. They were held in connection with the school massacre by their son which claimed the lives of four of his classmates. Jennifer and James Crumbley are currently facing a mammoth bail amount of $500,000 each, as announced by Judge Julie Nicholson at the hearing. Meanwhile, the Crumbleys have retained Larry Nassar's attorney Shannon Smith for their defense.
The Crumbleys have also been placed on suicide watch, as they reportedly wept after being brought to the same facility where their son Ethan was being held. All the three Crumbleys were "segregated, each individually, in isolation" at the Oakland County jail. Judge Nicholson also placed them on GPS monitoring, as the prosecutors insisted that they were at flight risk.
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The 45 and 43-year-old parents were arrested near the Canadian border following a large-scale manhunt. The police are also trying to nab their accomplice who apparently provided them with a hideout. "We believe they were assisted in that location to get there, to get in. We're gathering that information, and we're going to have the totality of that done fairly soon and present that to our prosecutor for potential charges, for either aiding and abetting or obstruction of justice," stated Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
Are Ethan Crumbley's parents suicidal?
The most shocking part about Jennifer and James Crumbley's jail custody is perhaps the fact that they had been placed on suicide watch. Both of them wept inconsolably during separate Zoom calls, where Judge Nicholson read out their charges and $500,000 individual bail amount. The couple pled not guilty to all the four charges filed against them.
While Jennifer appeared visibly distraught and shaken during her virtual conference, James Crumbley continued shaking his head in shock and agony from time to time. Both of them broke down multiple times during the arraignment and declaration of potential jail time if convicted.
"There is no indication that any of them were suicidal, but out an abundance of caution our amazing corrections team is doing suicide watches on all three of them. They are in custody and in isolation," Sheriff Bouchard clarified.
Meanwhile, their 15-year-old is being tried as an adult and is facing more than two dozen criminal charges, which include murder, attempted murder, and terrorism. Crumbley's parents are being implicated in the mass shooting as the teenager used a handgun gifted by his father recently. His mother allegedly boasted about taking him to practice shooting the high-powered firearm days before the Oxford school massacre.
There is no past record of mental health issues among the senior Crumbleys or their son Ethan. However, it has now been found that Ethan's parents were summoned by the Oxford school principal on the very morning of the shooting, to discuss his abnormal behavioral changes. At that time, the school authorities reportedly advised the parents to seek mental health counseling and help for Ethan.