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James Crumbley, father of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, calls himself a “martyr” and says he feels like he’s “joining the army” in jailhouse calls obtained by Fox News Digital.
An Oakland County, Michigan, judge on Tuesday sentenced James to serve 10 to 15 years in prison after a jury found him and his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, guilty of involuntary manslaughter for their respective roles in the shooting. at the school where his then 15-year-old teenager took place. one-year-old son held on November 30, 2021.
“I feel like a martyr,” James says in a jailhouse call. “We are martyrs, you know, without the dying aspect. Because I don’t know a better word to use. So I use the word ‘martyr’. But we are martyrs to make sure this never happens to anyone else in America again.” , to make sure no one likes that dumb, stupid bitch (Oakland County Prosecutor) Karen McDonald.”
He adds later that he and his wife “are going to fight the good fight for everyone else.”
JAMES AND JENNIFER CRUMBLEY SENTENCED IN THE SHOOTING AT THEIR SON’S MICHIGAN SCHOOL
“I feel like I joined the military and I’m going to fight for my country,” he says. “You know, in a way I am. I’m fighting for everyone else’s freedom.”
Portions of some of James’ jail calls were read aloud in court during the defendant’s sentencing hearing Tuesday. Specifically, prosecutors highlighted moments in which James appeared to threaten McDonald, an Oakland County prosecutor who initially filed landmark charges against both of Crumbley’s parents in December 2021. They are the first parents of a school shooter in U.S. history. in being accused (and convicted) of their crimes as children.
MOM OF MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER WANTS HOUSE ARREST, REGRETS AS KILLER’S PARENTS FACE SENTENCE
Ethan, now 18, pleaded guilty to the shooting and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In other jail calls, James repeatedly uses profanity and insults against McDonald.
JAMES CRUMBLEY TRIAL: MICHIGAN JURY REACHES VERDICT FOR FATHER OF SCHOOL SHOOTER
“Yes, Karen McDonald, you’re going to fall,” he says in one call. “Go ahead, record this call. Send it to Karen McDonald. Tell her how James Crumbley is going to beat her. She won’t have a law license when he’s done with her. And like I said, Karen McDonald will be working like fucking McDonald’s because she won’t be able to get a fucking job.” nowhere else”.
Later, James says that when he gets out of jail, he will go on a “riot.”
But his defense attorney, Mariell Lehman, argued Tuesday before Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews that her client did not physically threaten the prosecutor.
JENNIFER CRUMBLEY TRIAL: MICHIGAN JURY FINDS SCHOOL SHOOTER’S MOTHER GUILTY OF INVOLUNTARY HOMICIDE
“I am disputing… that Mr. Crumbley has ever made a physical threat against Prosecutor McDonald. He has let off steam. He has been angry… but he has never threatened to physically harm Ms. McDonald,” Lehman said Tuesday. “Instead… the statements made by Mr. Crumbley, although there has been language that may not be very respectful, that he may be angry out of frustration at being incarcerated and locked up for 23 hours a day for the last two years and a -Half a year, for something Mr. Crumbley and I maintain he did not do illegally or wrongly, but he vented his frustrations.”
James later addressed the court for the first time during his sentencing; He did not testify during the trial as his wife did.
MICHIGAN MOTHER ON TRIAL FOR SON’S DEADLY SHOOTING MASSACRE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT PARENTS’ GUILT IN SHOOTINGS
WATCH: James Crumbley speaks at sentencing
“I really want the families of Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre and Justin Shilling to know… how sorry I am and how devastated I was when I heard what happened to them,” James said. “I have cried for you and the loss of your children more times than I can count. I know your pain and loss will never go away. A part of you will be gone forever. But know that I am truly, truly sorry.”
James’ statement concluded with a strong statement that the court did not know the whole truth about the shooting: “The whole truth has not been told. And I’m with you… I want the truth too. You haven’t had You haven’t had the truth at all.”
Ethan used a 9mm SIG Sauer, which James bought for him, to Oxford High School Shooting on November 30, 2021. The firearm contained various ammunition when authorities recovered it. Jennifer posted about the purchase on social media, calling it a Christmas gift for her teenage son, just days before the massacre.
The gun was also not properly secured in the Crumbley home, prosecutors revealed during both trials. Ethan had target posters with bullet holes hanging in his bedroom.
Prosecutors have suggested that the Crumbleys could have stopped the shooting before it occurred when They arrived at Oxford High on the morning of Nov. 30 to meet with school counselors after Ethan was caught scribbling disturbing notes in class.
His notes included a picture of a gun and the phrases “Help me,” “Blood everywhere,” and “My life is useless.”
MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER’S MOTHER JENNIFER CRUMBLEY CALLED HER SON AN ‘OOPSIE BABY,’ WITNESS SAYS
But the parents turned around after the meeting, leaving their son at school while they returned to work. Ethan later pulled a firearm from his backpack, fatally shot four students and wounded seven others. The shooting has led to several civil lawsuits against the elder Crumbleys and school administrators, alleging that they failed to prevent the shooting.
The day before the school massacre, Ethan made a 19-minute video describing what he was going to do the next day, prosecutors said during Jennifer’s trial.
After the shooting, the Crumbleys allegedly fled Oxford and headed to Detroit with $6,000 in cash after initial questioning by police. U.S. Marshals finally detained them days later on December 4, 2021.
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