Journal entries and a gun lock: 5 key moments from James Crumbley trial

James Crumbley was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in connection with the four students killed by his son at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, a rare trial against a parent whose child carried out a school mass shooting.

Prosecutors argued Crumbley, 47, was grossly negligent by allowing his son to have access the gun the teen used to kill four classmates and failing secure it, despite warning signs about the teen's deteriorating mental health. His attorney, meanwhile, had insisted Crumbley had no idea what his son was planning and police can't prove he didn't lock up his guns.

A jury convicted Jennifer Crumbley early in February on the same charges, and the cases presented by prosecutors had much overlapping facts and evidence. Both Jennifer and James will be sentenced April 9.

But a few moments still stood out in James' eight-day trial about his behavior leading up to the shooting and in its immediate aftermath, and how quickly a gun lock can be secured.

Shooter wrote about access to gun

The shooter had a small, black journal that included 22 pages of journal writings and drawings, outlining his plans to "shoot up" his school, his desire to get a 9mm gun and his spiraling mental health.

“I will have to find where my dad hid my 9mm before I can shoot the school,” the teen wrote in one, referring to the SIG Sauer handgun he had gone with his father to buy on Nov. 26.

By the day before the shooting, he apparently had: He had "access to the gun and ammo," he wrote.

Crumbley's defense attorney highlighted the entry about finding the gun as evidence James Crumbley intended to keep the gun out of his son's reach.

A text of shooter with gun, safety unlocked

An image of the shooter holding the gun, the safety unlocked, that he sent to his friend, also showed he had access to the gun.

Crumbley's attorney argued that there was no way to prove James Crumbley wasn't nearby when the picture was taken, which included the teen's cat. But an ATF agent said the photo was still unsafe, especially with the safety unlocked and the chamber loaded.

Crumbley told son he had people he could talk to

In the office of Ethan Crumbley's school counselor hours before he opened fire, James Crumbley told his son he had people in his life he could talk to, the counselor, Shawn Hopkins, said in testimony.

The shooter's parents had gone to meet with him and school officials after the teen made drawings on a math worksheet of a gun and a person bleeding, and wrote phrases such as "Help me" and "The thoughts won't stop."

James told his son, "‘You have people you can talk to. You can talk to your counselor, you have your journal, we can talk,’ and it felt appropriate at that time,'" testified Hopkins, the teen's counselor.

By contrast, he painted Jennifer Crumbley's ending of that meeting as abrupt, asking, "Are we done?"

The difference of 10 seconds

In her closing rebuttal in the trial against the father of the Oxford High School shooter, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald put on gloves, picked up the 9mm handgun used in the shooting and threaded a cable lock through it.

It took less than 10 seconds, McDonald told the room. But the cable lock that came with the SIG Sauer appeared to be unopened when law enforcement raided the Crumbleys' home hours after the 2021 shooting.

When law enforcement searched the Crumbleys' home, they found an open gun case and empty box of bullets on the master bed. The only evidence about where the Crumbleys kept the SIG Sauer came from James Crumbley saying at an Oxford substation he kept it in an armoire the ammunition under a pair of jeans.

'In case something happens'

Footage of the Crumbleys in a patrol car while law enforcement searched their house showed James Crumbley trying to calm his wife down as she frantically questioned why she had been handcuffed (the parents had not yet been charged).

“Honey, I love you, in case something happens,” Crumbley said before kissing his wife. “If something happens, you do not answer any questions without a lawyer.”

The comment differed from his earlier posture at the law enforcement station after his son's arrest. His defense attorney said Crumbley insisted on talking even after his wife wondered if they should get an attorney first.