Michigan school shooter: ‘I want all of America to see the darkness in me’
Disturbing passages from Oxford High School mass shooter Ethan Crumbley’s journal were read in court as the prosecution and defense teams present evidence and arguments for and against a life sentence.
“I want all of America to see the darkness in me. I want to impact the world.”
“I wonder what life in prison will be like.”
“I want the world to remember me.”
Those are just a few of several disturbing passages from Oxford High School mass shooter Ethan Crumbley’s journal, read in court by Detective Lt. Tim Willis of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office as the teenage killer’s Miller hearing got underway before Judge Kwame Rowe in Oakland County Circuit Court.
At the hearing, expected to last through Friday and possibly beyond, is for the prosecution and defense teams to present evidence and arguments for and against a life sentence for Crumbley. A Miller hearing is required for anyone facing a life sentence who committed the crime before age 18. If Crumbley doesn’t receive a life sentence, the minimum term must be at least 25 years, according to state law.
Crumbley, now 17, was a 15-year-old sophomore when he opened fire in the hallways at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, killing four fellow students — Madison Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, Justin Shilling, 17, and Hana St. Juliana, 14. Six other students and one teacher were wounded by his gunfire.
Crumbley pleaded guilty on Oct. 24, 2022 to the 24 crimes he was charged with in connection with the mass shooting: four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony.
County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, in her opening statement, acknowledged that seeking life in prison for a juvenile is “exceedingly rare” and is subject to a “heightened standard.”
“This is the one, your honor…the only way to honor the victims…with the utmost respect that they deserve (is life without parole),” McDonald said.
Defense attorney Paulette Loftin, in her opening statement, countered that life in prison is “a disproportionate sentence” — and that, by established legal standards for young offenders, is reserved for those who are irreparably corrupt and without the ability to be rehabilitated. Crumbley isn’t one of them, she said.
Remembered through all of history
Taking the stand as the first witness called by the prosecution, Willis — the officer-in-charge of the case — became emotional and paused for a few moments as he named Crumbley’s murder victims. “I’m so sorry,” he told the judge.
In reading from the journal he said belonged to Crumbley — found in a handicapped stall of a school bathroom where the teen had been just before the shooting — where “every written page” referred to carrying out a school shooting and, in doing so, he’d achieve the notoriety he desired. The only way to be remembered throughout history, Crumbley wrote, “is to shoot up the school…I want to be remembered through all of history.”
Crumbley also wrote about his desire to make the parents of his victims suffer and wanting to “hear the screams of children as I shoot them.”
Other passages read in court:
“I want to shoot up the f***ing school so badly” and needing a 9 mm pistol to carry it out.
“Ready and 9 mm ready,” and then his desire to “walk behind a pretty girl and shoot her in the back of the head” before continuing the shooting in a classroom.
The 90-plus page journal also included more than 50 drawn images of guns, Willis said.
Continuing his testimony, Willis also read several text messages from Crumbley’s phone written in the months leading up to the shooting, in which he expressed his desire for torturing and other violence against children, rape and mutilation, and detailed accounts of killing and mutilating several baby birds — which he reportedly carried out and recorded on his cell phone.
Crumbly also expressed a need to kill, based on the text messages.
Willis further testified about Crumbley searching the internet about prison sentences for juveniles, a map of Oxford High School, school resource officers, the number of police in Michigan and more.
Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, each face four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the incident. They’re accused of committing gross negligence in allowing their son access to the 9mm handgun that investigators say he used in the shootings, and for not properly addressing signs that he was a troubled child in need of psychological help. If convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $7,500 on each count.
All three Crumbleys are in the Oakland County Jail, denied access to each other.