James Crumbley, convicted of involuntary manslaughter after his son's deadly 2021 shooting spree at Michigan's Oxford High School, is now in the spotlight for allegedly threatening Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. According to a Detroit News report, the threats were uttered in a jailhouse call with a family member and directed at McDonald. As per prosecution statements, the threats were an attempt by Crumbley to tell the prosecutor what could to happen to her once he got out.
The recent revelations came as the county's prosecutor's office disclosed their intent to include these alleged threats in Crumbley's sentencing memo. The statements are treated as an indication of both a lack of remorse and a refusal to take responsibility for his part in the deaths of Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Justin Shilling. As mentioned by a CNN source close to the prosecution, Crumbley's threats were unambiguous as they included language about the prosecutor going to hell soon and emphasized that she should be scared, and mentioned she was "done."
His trial ended in convictions for himself and his wife, Jennifer, marking them as the first parents to be convicted for a child's actions in a school shooting. In court, arguments centered around the access Ethan Crumbley had to a gun his father bought just days before the massacre, and the parents' gross negligence, as per NBC News. Defense attorney Mariell Lehman had tried to keep the alleged threats out of the media spotlight, arguing over the nature of Crumbley's words.
Even in the face of such threats, McDonald told WXYZ in a statement obtained by The Detroit News, that "he hoped I was listening when he threatened me physically." With sentencing scheduled for April 9, the legal team is prepared to lay down in full the degree to which Crumbley has gone to intimidate and threaten the official who prosecutes him. Both James and Jennifer Crumbley could potentially be facing up to 15 years in prison for the charges. The couple remains in custody following Ethan's sentencing the previous year to life in prison without parole.
