Prosecutor Releases Stunning Details About Crumbleys, Who Ignored Ethan Was Torturing Animals, Texting Disturbing Messages

There are none so blind as they who will not see and the parents of 15-year-old Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley are the poster children to illustrate this adage. Their son was crying out in pain and they not only ignored the signs, they bought him a gun. Prosecutor Karen McDonald did a court filing Thursday and it makes a compelling argument that the shooter was very sick for a very long time and rather than get him help, they got him a weapon. Detroit Free Press:

“The defendants had information long before Nov. 30 (six months prior to the shooting) that their son’s only friend moved at the end of October, that the family dog died, that their son was sadder than usual, and that he was sending his mother disturbing texts about his state of mind,” the prosecution wrote in a Thursday court filing. “Instead of paying attention to their son and getting him help, they bought him a gun.” […]

” … they knew that their son was depressed, that he was fascinated with guns …  that he had been researching ammunition while at a school and that he was seen watching violent videos of shootings that morning,” the prosecutor wrote in her filing. “Before they left school that day, they had also seen the disturbing drawings.”

There were other signs that Ethan Crumbley needed help, prosecutors allege.

“Their son was torturing animals, even kept a baby bird’s head in a jar on his bedroom floor, which he later took and placed in a school bathroom,” the prosecutor’s filing states. “Meanwhile, the parents were focusing on their own issues, things like extramarital affairs, financial issues and substance abuse.”

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald also alleged that during this same time period, the Crumbleys spent their time at a barn caring for their horses three to four nights a week for up to three hours at a time, and “seeking other relationships, including (the) mother’s extramarital affairs.”

The court filing was done in response to defense counsel asking that bail be lowered to $100,000 from $500,000. The prosecutor is arguing that the defendants are even more of a flight risk now than they were when they ran the first time. The Crumbleys have sold their horses and their house is $11,000 behind in payments and on the market.

There are many parents who don’t raise their children, they just give them custodial care and the children need to raise themselves, in essence. Some people are survivors and can fend for themselves, some people can’t. Ethan Crumbley is one of those kids who desperately needed parents and guidance and he didn’t get any.

Ethan Crumbley also lives in a culture where lethal weapons are treated like toys and that, on top of a life that was already painful and empty, proved his undoing.