Crumbley parents in court • Special needs student dropped at wrong bus stop • Person of Interest in Roseville

James and Jennifer Crumbley's trial is set and their son has pled guilty - but the parents of the convicted mass shooter still have more hearings in court before they will be tried for involuntary manslaughter.

The parents of the 16-year-old mass shooter will be in court Friday for a hearing on whether the Oakland County prosecutor can call witnesses experts to testify about mass shooters and the path to violence that many take before they start shooting. FOX 2 will stream the hearing live when it's expected to begin at 9 a.m.

In trying both Crumbley parents, prosecutors want to connect the inaction of James and Jennifer to their son's decision to bring a gun to school. Both defendants have fought the charges and asked for them to be thrown out, arguing they couldn't have known what their son was planning.

But during Ethan Crumbley's guilty plea hearing this Monday, the teen said he asked his dad to buy him a gun, gave his dad the money to buy the gun, and going so far as to pick it out. 

Ethan also admitted the gun was not secured when he took it to school. 

"Yes, it was not locked," he said on Oct. 24 after Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast asked him if it was true the 9mm handgun was "not kept in a safe or locked container?"

The prosecution wants to use testimony that argues that Ethan's pathway to violence followed multiple stages, instead of the teen snapping and committing mass murder. The defense is fighting the allowance of that expert testimony. 

More Oxford High School shooting news:

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Crumbley parents trial set for January as Ethan pleads guilty

James and Jennifer Crumbley will head to trial in January for their role in the Oxford High School shootings.

Photo of person of interest released in investigation of dead body

Roseville police are looking for a person of interest in the suspicious death of a woman in her 60s, found in the back of a pickup truck that cops say he was driving. After a traffic crash, he then allegedly ran from the scene Thursday. Investigators released a pair of photos said to be the driver who fled.

Police say the body is a 62-year-old woman who lived in Roseville. Investigators say someone out there knows something. The cause of death has not been determined yet. Roseville Police say it all went down just after noon when officers were sent to Common and Hayes on report of a crash. They treated the scene as such…until making the startling discovery.

"That’s feet out of the ordinary for this neighborhood to have something like that happen," said Shelley Sawyer. She could not believe what was happening in front of her house, both in the form of video from her home surveillance system showing the pickup truck and police investigating.

Video from a Twitter page that calls itself Donny Riddle. It shows that person of interest being photographed after the impact and before cops say he took off. "When they opened up the bed of the pickup truck they found a deceased person in the bed of the truck," Chief Ryan Monroe said. Read the story here.

Special needs child dropped at wrong bus stop, outraging parents

A Dearborn Heights couple says their 6-year-old daughter with special needs was dropped off at the wrong bus stop - and the school did nothing to help find her. Marcus White said his daughter Adele was missing for an hour and a half after being dropped off at the wrong stop.

Because Adele also deals with speech issues, it can be tough to communicate. She was coming from River Oaks Elementary School when she was dropped off. Her mom Crystal panicked when she couldn't find her daughter.

When she didn't show up at her stop off Warren near Telegraph, the Whites knew something wasn't right. There was no answer at the school, and no one was there either. "I called the police department and they said they had just received a call of a missing child roaming in some trailer home areas," Crystal said.

Dearborn Schools Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko is sincerely apologizing to this family, calling what happened isolated. A review of cameras in the bus - shows the substitute bus driver asking if it was the child's right stop - she said yes.

Read the full story here.

Detroit rapper Sameerah ‘Creme’ Marrel, charged in $5 million fraud case, on the run

Sameerah Marrel, one of two Metro Detroit rappers charged with stealing more than $5 million from the United States IRS, is believed to be on the run after failing to appear for multiple court proceedings related to the case.

Marrel and another woman, Noelle Brown, were both charged in July 2021 with aggravated identity theft, false claims, and conspiracy. According to the 2021 IRS complaint, the two women were part of an elaborate tax scheme where the women claimed withholdings and refunds of more than $13.6 million from 2013 to 2017.

According to court records, the two women performed as the female rap group "Deuces Wild" under stage names Creme (Marrel) and Brown. Marrel has not been in contact with court since July 25, 2022, and, according to court records, she has missed repeated meetings with the court, pretrial services, and her own attorney.

In a court filing, Judge Linda Parker issued an arrest warrant and revoked the bond of Marrel after she failed to appear. Additionally, it's believed she claimed to work at an Oak Park wig shop that may have never existed.

Featured

Detroit rapper Sameerah ‘Creme’ Marrel, charged in $5 million fraud case, on the run

One of two Detroit rappers who were part of a scheme that stole over $5 million from the IRS, has disappeared as she was out on bond awaiting trial.

Beech leaf disease spreads to Oakland and Wayne counties

The invasive microscopic worm that has devastated trees in the Northeast U.S. and was reported for the first time in Michigan this year has now spread to the state's two most populated counties. 

Beech leaf disease, which can cause damage to the tissue of foliage in trees has been detected in Oakland and Wayne County, a release from the Department of Natural Resources said this week. It was first reported in St. Clair County in July 2022.

According to the DNR, even though leaves are already falling off trees the disease is still detectable in trees in Michigan. They've been associated with not just damaged leaf tissue but also dead buds. 

The affected trees have been reported in Birmingham, Bloomfield, China, Clay, Grosse Pointe Shores, Rochester, and Troy. While the infestations were only first discovered, the DNR believes Beech leaf disease had likely been around for at least a year, possibly longer.

Featured

Invasive worm that causes Beech leaf disease spreading to Oakland and Wayne counties

The microscopic worm that's known to devastate trees in the Northeast U.S. was first reported in Michigan this year. Since then, it's been found in several cities in Metro Detroit.

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Daily Forecast

It's going to start taking longer for the weather to warm up as the sun rises later in the day - but we should still see some warm temperatures before the end of the day. This weekend will also be beautiful until the rain hits Sunday night.

What else we're watching

  1. The Publishers Clearing House is back to return some big checks to some unsuspecting customers. This time, it will be a lucky Hazel Park resident getting a brand new car.
  2. The Detroit Lions are teaming up with Gleaners Food Bank this weekend for a canned food drive. Anyone going to the game can bring in food for a chance to win two tickets to an upcoming home game.
  3. Christopher Schurr, the Grand Rapids police officer who shot and killed Patrick Lyoya during a traffic stop this year is in court for his preliminary examination. Day two is Friday. 
  4. A dog that has spent 14 years in a shelter has been adopted by a Michigan native. A woman from Manistee drove down to Illinois to adopt the adorable pup, now 19 years old. 
  5. Roop Raj held a special edition of Let It Rip Thursday when he interviewed Tudor Dixon. They discussed abortion, guns, COVID policies, and more. 

Elon Musk in control of Twitter, but where will he go from here?

Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter after a protracted legal battle and months of uncertainty. The question now is what the billionaire Tesla CEO will actually do with the social media platform.

Musk ousted three top Twitter executives on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the deal who said he was in charge. Such a shakeup was widely expected, but Musk has otherwise made contradictory statements about his vision for the company — and shared few concrete plans for how he will run it.

The people wouldn’t say if all the paperwork for the deal, originally valued at $44 billion, had been signed or if the deal had closed. A Delaware judge had ordered that the deal be finalized by Friday.

Late Thursday, Musk tweeted, "the bird has been freed," a reference to Twitter’s logo.