‘I wish he would have killed us instead’: Mother of Oxford High School mass shooter testifies at manslaughter trial

Jennifer Crumbley testified at her manslaughter trial on Feb. 1, 2024. Crumbley is charged with manslaughter in connection with her son’s 2021 attack at Oxford High School, in which he killed four fellow students. (Via Law&Crime.)

The mother of the Michigan teenage mass shooter who killed four of his high school classmates says that she never could have imagined her son could carry out a school shooting — and that she wished he had killed her instead.

Jennifer Crumbley took the stand in her own defense on the sixth day of her manslaughter trial. She and her husband, James Crumbley, are facing manslaughter charges in connection with their son Ethan Crumbley’s murderous attack at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. On that day, using a gun he had allegedly received as a gift from his parents just days earlier, the then-15-year-old opened fire on his classmates, taking the lives of students Tate Myre, 16 Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17.

Arrest warrants were issued for James and Jennifer Crumbley after the shooting. They appeared to have attempted to evade apprehension by the police but were eventually found hiding in a building near downtown Detroit, around 30 minutes away from Oakland.

On Thursday, Jennifer Crumbley said that she would give her life in exchange for the children who were killed by her son.

“If you could change what happened, would you?” her attorney Shannon Smith asked toward the end of her direct examination.

“Oh, absolutely,” Jennifer Crumbley replied. “I wish he would have killed us instead.”

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