Prosecutors: Crumbleys' lying friend shouldn't house couple if freed on bail

Pontiac — Oakland County prosecutors on Tuesday attacked the credibility of proposed living arrangements for James and Jennifer Crumbley if they were to be released on bond, arguing that the person designated to house them had legal issues and is not responsible enough.

In a Tuesday court filing, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Marc Keast said James Crumbley's attorney, Mariell Lehman, sent the court an email Sunday about a person who said the Crumbleys could live with him if they were released on bond.

The Crumbleys are in custody on four counts each of involuntary manslaughter connected to their son's killing of four students and wounding of six students and a teacher in the mass shooting at Oxford High School in November 2021. Their case is in the Michigan Court of Appeals awaiting a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for them to stand trial.

Lehman and Jennifer Crumbley's attorney, Shannon Smith, did not respond for comment Tuesday. They argued in motions filed last week that the $500,000 bond for their clients is excessive and unwarranted, and that the Crumbleys are not flight risks, which Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews has rejected.

This person who said the Crumbleys could live with him, identified only as B.J. in the filing, is not responsible enough to trust, Keast argued in the ruling. Michigan law requires defendants to live at an appropriate place with a responsible community member if they are released on bond, someone who can monitor them and report any violations to the court.

Sanilac County law enforcement told prosecutors they did not want the Crumbleys housed in their jurisdiction, according to the filing.

B.J. was the subject of a harassment complaint this year in Port Huron after police say he lied about being transgender so he could enter a women's locker room, according to the police report. The gym canceled his membership and B.J. became belligerent, according to the report, and threatened gym employees. B.J. told police he wore a shirt that said "proud transwoman" to the gym, asked a front desk employee which bathroom to use, then became upset because he was "tired of this woke (expletive)."

According to the court filing, B.J. also:

• Had a warrant out for his arrest for nearly six months in 2020 for failing to appear at a creditor's exam in Sanilac County. The case started in 2017 with a defamation complaint against the man by a Sanilac County Sheriff's Office deputy.
• Told officials he was growing 72 marijuana plants on his property for a number of years while he was trying to get permission to use his home as a large-scale marijuana growing facility in 2017.
• Spreads extremist views on Facebook, including posts about an unnamed vaccine killing people and President Joe Biden's administration trafficking children for sex and cheap labor.

Keast noted concerns with B.J. being a concealed pistol license holder and having told officials he was growing marijuana at his home. If he still grows marijuana or has a gun in his home, this would violate the Crumbleys' bond conditions, according to the Oakland County Prosecutor's office.

Keast said the Crumbleys remain flight risks and if they were to be released on bond, they should remain in Oakland County so the sheriff's office can ensure compliance with court orders.

"The people ask the Court to find that B.J. is not an appropriate placement, and to take the absence of any appropriate community placement into consideration when deciding defendants' bond motion," Keast wrote.

The Crumbleys have been in the county jail since their arrest last year at a friend's Detroit art studio, where police believe they were hiding. They were the subjects of a hours-long manhunt.

Smith and Lehman said the Crumbleys were only at the studio because they had received threats at their home and they planned to turn themselves into authorities for arraignment. They now are both unemployed and have had to sell their house in Oxford to pay for legal fees. They have made at least five previous attempts to have their bond reduced.

Bond is set at $500,000 cash for both James and Jennifer Crumbley.

The Crumbleys' son, Ethan Crumbley, pleaded guilty in October to killing Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. He wounded six other students and a teacher. A February hearing will determine if he should be sentenced to life in prison or if, as a juvenile, he should be excepted from it.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has described the Crumbleys as grossly negligent in the care of Ethan, who was 15 at the time of the shootings. He has told investigators and the court that his parents bought him the gun, took him to a shooting range to learn how to fire it and did not keep the gun locked up.

The parents' attorneys have argued that the Crumbleys didn't know that Ethan had planned a shooting at the high school.

kberg@detroitnews.com