This image from 52-3 District Court shows Jennifer Crumbley waving to her husband James during a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. A judge has denied a request to lower a $500,000 bail set for the parents who are charged with their son in a fatal Michigan school shooting. The judge says the Crumbleys failed to turn themselves in when charged with involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 3 and have few ties to the area. The Crumbleys have been in jail since Dec. 4 and unable to meet the bond. They are charged in a shooting that killed four students at Oxford High School on Nov. 30. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) - A teenager charged with killing four students at their Michigan high school waived a key hearing Friday, moving his case straight to a trial court, while a judge rejected a request by his parents to reduce their $500,000 bail and get them out of jail.
Prosecutors vigorously opposed a lower bond for James and Jennifer Crumbley, who are charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths at Oxford High School. They countered with more examples of the parents' alleged failure to get help for Ethan Crumbley before the Nov. 30 shooting.
'œHe was fascinated with firearms. He was violent. He displayed terrifying tendencies and behaviors," assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said. 'œHe literally sketched out what he planned to do in his journal and his drawings.'ť
Earlier in 2021, Ethan told his mother in text messages that he thought 'œthere was a demon or a ghost or someone else inside the home,'ť Keast said. 'œThese weren't one-time messages. He would repeatedly text what he was perceiving to his mother, who sometimes would not respond for hours.'ť
The elder Crumbleys are accused of making a gun accessible to their son and refusing to take him home on the day of the shooting when school counselors confronted them with distressing drawings of violence.
Judge Julie Nicholson declined to reduce the parents' bond to $100,000, noting they didn't turn themselves in after charges against them were announced on Dec. 3.
Separately, Ethan Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with murder and other crimes. Earlier Friday, he waived a key evidentiary hearing and agreed to send his case directly to a trial court in Oakland County.
After the brief hearing, defense attorney Paulette Loftin told WWJ-AM that a plea deal down the road was a 'œdefinite possibility,'ť though 'œit's too early to jump to that phase.'ť
Lawyers for the parents said they weren't trying to flee in early December, though they had $6,000 in cash and multiple phones and credit cards when they were arrested in a Detroit art studio.
'œThe last thing they expected was that a school shooting would take place, or that their son would be responsible," defense attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman said in a court filing.
Oxford High students are expected to return to school next week for the first time since the shooting but at a different building. The high school, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit, could reopen during the week of Jan. 23.
This image from 52-3 District Court shows Ethan Crumbley in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. The teenager charged with killing four students at their Michigan high school has waived a key court hearing. The decision means Crumbley's case moves straight to a trial court in suburban Detroit. Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other counts for the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles north of Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press
This image from 52-3 District Court shows Ethan Crumbley in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. The teenager charged with killing four students at their Michigan high school has waived a key court hearing. The decision means Crumbley's case moves straight to a trial court in suburban Detroit. Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other counts for the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles north of Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press
FILE - This undated combo of photos provided by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office shows James Crumbley, left, and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, a teen accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, in Michigan. The parents, charged with their son in the fatal shooting, are returning to court Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, to ask for a lower bail.(Oakland County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
The Associated Press
FILE - This booking photo released by the Oakland County, Mich., Sheriff's Office shows Ethan Crumbley, who is charged as an adult with murder and terrorism for a shooting that killed four fellow students and injured more at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich. Ethan Crumbley, faces a court hearing Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. His parents, James Crumbley, and Jennifer Crumbley also have a court date on Friday to ask for reduced bail, as they have been charged along with Ethan in in the fatal shooting. (Oakland County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
The Associated Press
This image from 52-3 District Court shows James and Jennifer Crumbley in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. A judge has denied a request to lower a $500,000 bail set for the parents who are charged with their son in a fatal Michigan school shooting. The judge says the Crumbleys failed to turn themselves in when charged with involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 3 and have few ties to the area. The Crumbleys have been in jail since Dec. 4 and unable to meet the bond. They are charged in a shooting that killed four students at Oxford High School on Nov. 30. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press
This image from 52-3 District Court shows James Crumbley blowing a kiss to his wife Jennifer Crumbley during a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. A judge has denied a request to lower a $500,000 bail set for the parents who are charged with their son in a fatal Michigan school shooting. The judge says the Crumbleys failed to turn themselves in when charged with involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 3 and have few ties to the area. The Crumbleys have been in jail since Dec. 4 and unable to meet the bond. They are charged in a shooting that killed four students at Oxford High School on Nov. 30. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press
This image from 52-3 District Court shows James and Jennifer Crumbley in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. A judge has denied a request to lower a $500,000 bail set for the parents who are charged with their son in a fatal Michigan school shooting. The judge says the Crumbleys failed to turn themselves in when charged with involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 3 and have few ties to the area. The Crumbleys have been in jail since Dec. 4 and unable to meet the bond. They are charged in a shooting that killed four students at Oxford High School on Nov. 30. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press
This image from 52-3 District Court shows Jennifer Crumbley signing a message to her husband James in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. A judge has denied a request to lower a $500,000 bail set for the parents who are charged with their son in a fatal Michigan school shooting. The judge says the Crumbleys failed to turn themselves in when charged with involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 3 and have few ties to the area. The Crumbleys have been in jail since Dec. 4 and unable to meet the bond. They are charged in a shooting that killed four students at Oxford High School on Nov. 30. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press
This image from 52-3 District Court shows Jennifer Crumbley in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. A judge has denied a request to lower a $500,000 bail set for James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents who are charged with their son in a fatal Michigan school shooting. The judge says the Crumbleys failed to turn themselves in when charged with involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 3 and have few ties to the area. The Crumbleys have been in jail since Dec. 4 and unable to meet the bond. They are charged in a shooting that killed four students at Oxford High School on Nov. 30. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Associated Press