‘He can’t be left alone,’ mother of accused Oxford High shooter texted on day of attack
The mother of the teenager accused of killing four and injuring seven others in a shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan last year allegedly sent concerning texts the day of the attack and shared a picture of a graphic drawing made by her son, a witness testified during a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
Kira Pennock, the owner of a horse farm where two of the family’s horses were housed, testified that Jennifer Crumbley texted her multiple times the day of the shooting, according to Fox News. “…Just got to go to my son’s school and meet his counselor. Sh*t day,” one of the texts sent by Crumbley, sent just before 11 a.m., allegedly read.
The meeting was arranged to discuss violent drawings made by Ethan Crumbley. Jennifer Crumbley shared a photo of one drawing with Pennock and her employer, Andrew Smith, according to the outlet.
The teenager had drawn a gun and a bullet with a caption reading, “Blood everywhere.” He also wrote various comments on the page, including “The thoughts won’t stop,” “Help me” and “My life is useless.”
Ethan Crumbley claimed in the meeting that the drawings were for a video game, and his parents “flatly refused” to take him home, the prosecutor said, according to Fox News.
Jennifer Crumbley suggested to Pennock that she might bring her son to the horse farm after school on the day of the shooting.
“He can’t be left alone,” she texted, per the outlet.
Jennifer Crumbley told Pennock in another text that morning that Ethan was going through a “hard time” because of the death of the family dog and a friend going away to a “treatment facility.”
Jennifer Crumbley, 43, and husband James Crumbley, 45, were charged with involuntary manslaughter in December for allegedly purchasing the gun that their son used in the shooting for him.
According to authorities, Ethan Crumbley used a pistol bought by his father on Black Friday, which Jennifer Crumbley said on social media that the couple had bought as a Christmas gift for the teenager.
The pair both pleaded not guilty and are currently each being held on $500,000 bond, according to Fox News.
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