Ethan Crumbley's neighbor reveals Michigan school shooter was often left alone as parents went out drinking
OXFORD, MICHIGAN: Suzanne Jinerson, Ethan Crumbley's next-door neighbor, claims the quiet teenager "was never, ever OK" years before he carried out a mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan on November 30, 2021. This comes after the state appeals court decided that Ethan's parents will be tried for involuntary manslaughter.
Ethan, then 15, used a gun his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, gave him as a Christmas present to kill four students and injure seven more, according to Fox News. He entered a guilty plea in October 2022. Jinerson stated, "He was never, ever OK – and I honestly believe he could have been," according to Detroit Free Press. Jennifer and her husband are now accused of four counts of involuntary manslaughter for their alleged involvement in the school shooting.
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'He was scared'
Jinerson, a 60-year-old retired Air Force officer and mother of three sons, recalled getting into a "huge fight" with Jennifer about abandoning Ethan when he was about 12 years old. She claimed that she would frequently offer to watch the teenager and let him spend time with her son and husband instead of being left alone at home when Ethan's parents went out to socialize and drink.
Jinerson confirmed the prosecution's portrayal of the Crumbleys as negligent parents, saying, "They would go out and drink and leave him home alone. He was scared. He would come over to my house and say, 'I can't be here because I'm going to get into trouble.'" She discontinued communicating with Jennifer after that argument.
'He never looked anyone in the eye'
Jinerson first met Ethan when he was just 6 years old. At the time, she considered Jennifer and James Crumbley as being perfectly alright. The couple had even invited the Jinersons over for dinner and wine one evening on their front porch, but Jinerson recalled Ethan as being reserved, according to Detroit Free Press.
The moment Jinerson's husband met Ethan, he warned his wife, "There is something wrong," since the boy "never looked anyone in the eye." Gradually, Jinerson's husband and son would often take Ethan on fishing trips, and at one point, they even decided to go skiing at Pine Knob. Jinnerson told the outlet, "I need people to understand that this was a 6-year-old boy at one time. I know he's a 'monster' for doing what he did, and I'm not trying to excuse it."
'This haunts me'
Prosecutors stated that James purchased the weapon Ethan used in the shooting from a nearby gun shop on November 26, 2021, according to Fox News. Ethan had access to the firearm at home before he brought it to Oxford High School. In a social media post, Jennifer claimed that the firearm was their son's Christmas present.
Jinerson's husband stated, "He shouldn't have had a gun, plain and simple," according to Detroit Free Press. Jinerson is still struggling with the shooting and wonders what she could have done to stop it. "This haunts me, big time. I will always wonder, 'What else could we have done?'" she stated.
