Parents of teen charged in school shooting to stand trial
Associated PressA judge on Thursday ordered the parents of a 15-year-old boy charged with killing four students at his Michigan high school to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. “The court finds that the deaths of the four victims could have been avoided if James and Jennifer Crumbley exercised ordinary care and diligence in the care of their son,” Nicholson said. The Crumbleys’ attorneys insisted the couple didn’t know their son might plan an attack and didn’t make the gun easy to find in their home, but Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Thursday that Ethan Crumbley reached out to his parents for help. “I told him, ‘I just want you to know I care about you.’ I don’t remember them saying goodbye.” Prosecutors alluded to a disconnect between Ethan and his parents, including texts he made to a friend in which he talks about his “dark side.” “In a text on April 5, 2021, Ethan writes: ‘Now my mom thinks I take drugs. “And then he writes: ’They make me feel like I’m the problem.’” Testimony also was given Thursday about what was written in a journal found in Ethan’s backpack following the shooting.