James, Jennifer Crumbley won't get new Oxford High School shooting trials, judge rules

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the Oxford High School shooter, will not receive new trials despite requesting them, an Oakland County judge ruled Wednesday.

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews denied both motions from the parents, who were convicted by juries in 2024.

The backstory:

James and Jennifer's son brought a gun to school and killed four classmates on Nov. 30, 2021, when he was 15.

After the shooting, the parents fled to Detroit, where they were found hiding in an art studio.

As James' case moved through the court system, it was revealed that he purchased his son a handgun as a Christmas gift just days before the deadly shooting. That firearm was kept unlocked in the family's home.

The parents also declined to bring their son home from school after they were called to the school just before the shooting. According to court testimony, school employees reached out to them after discovering violent drawings their son drew on a worksheet. This followed their son getting caught looking up bullets while in class.

James and Jennifer were each convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 10-15 years in prison.

Jennifer's attorney, Michael Dezi, argues that the prosecution committed a violation by not revealing a proffer agreement between the prosecutor's office and two key witnesses in the case. According to Dezsi, he believes the proffers provided immunity to school employees Nick Ejak and Shawn Hopkins, despite the prosecution saying they did not.

Ejak and Hopkins met with the Crumbleys just hours before the school shooting on Nov. 30, 3021, after their son drew disturbing images on a worksheet. They testified about that meeting.

Dezsi said the testimony, which he argued was largely subjective, helped convict his client. 

"This is Mr. Ejak testifying that he had an expectation that they would be leaving from the meeting with their son. He said, ‘It seems a little odd based on my experiences,’" Dezsi said. "So, they were trying to lay a predicate that would satisfy the gross negligence standard that didn't come from anywhere else in the trial, because that meeting is where the prosecutors say Mrs. Crumbley should have done something or taken her son."

Matthews pushed back on this claim, saying that Jennifer confirmed what happened in that meeting during her own testimony.

"There's no evidence contradicting what they said, and your client's testimony matches what they said," Matthews said.

Dezsi also expressed concerns that the prosecution did not share that Ejak and Hopkins would not be charged until after the Crumbleys were convicted.

"When you have an issue situation like this, these witnesses are going to do what they need to do. They're going to say, ‘Oh, I think they want me to be a little bit more helpful, I think they want me to establish this fact a little better,’" Dezsi said.

James' defense has referenced the same reasons for why he should receive a new trial or be acquitted. 

Dig deeper:

In her ruling denying new trials, Matthews called the issues raised by the Crumbley parents "meritless."

"Defendant has not shown that the suppressed Proffer Agreements were material. Despite the suppressed evidence, Defendant Jennifer Crumbley received a trial and verdict worthy of confidence based on the cumulative effect of the significant evidence against her," she wrote in Jennifer's ruling.

In her response to James' request, she said, "The defendant has not shown that his trial counsel was ineffective.  Also, defendant did not raise factual issues that require further development of the record."

What they're saying:

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald released a statement, saying that it's time for the focus to be on the victims - not the Crumbleys.

"Today Judge Cheryl Matthews’ upheld the guilty verdicts of James and Jennifer Crumbley and denied their requests for new trials," she said. "These cases have always been about just one thing: justice for Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling and the other Oxford victims. Judge Matthews' ruling makes clear that no issue raised by the defense affected the trial or the jury’s verdict.

"Now that the juries’ verdicts have been reviewed and upheld, it is time to turn our attention away from the Crumbleys and refocus on the Oxford victims. The bottom line is both James and Jennifer Crumbley were convicted by juries of their peers after receiving a fair trial."

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