On Wednesday, attorneys for Jennifer and Jason Crumbley filed a motion seeking to reduce their bonds, alleging that the charges were filed by an "angry" prosecutor who is using their case to "send a message to gun owners."
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Oxford County Prosecutor Karen McDonald's team responded in a motion Thursday, writing that the Crumbleys "knew that their son was depressed and heading down a dangerous and violent path, but they ignored his 'troubling' texts and other red flags, failed to get him help and paid attention to their own lives instead, including having extramarital affairs," according to the 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," prosecutors wrote. "Instead of paying attention to their son and getting him help, they bought him a gun."
Prosecutors alleged that the Crumbleys stored the gun in an unlocked cupboard. Ethan Crumbley was seen in class browsing ammunition on his phone a day before the shooting. On the morning of the massacre, he was found with a drawing depicting an handgun and someone bleeding with the words, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me."
However, after being called to the school, the Crumbleys refused to take Ethan home, and he was returned to class with a backpack containing the gun.
"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," prosecutors wrote. "Meanwhile, the parents were focusing on their own issues, things like extramarital affairs, financial issues and substance abuse."
The Crumbleys spent three or four nights a week caring for their horses, in addition to "seeking other relationships, including (the) mother's extramarital affairs," according to prosecutors.
On the day of the shooting, Jennifer Crumbley allegedly gave misleading statements about the location of the gun, telling her boyfriend that it was in her car.
"Instead, authorities have said, the gun was with her son. And it was her husband who noticed it missing after the shooting and called 911 to report it missing," the newspaper reports.
The Crumbleys, who were arrested at a Detroit art studio following a manhunt on Dec. 4, are seeking to have their bonds lowered from $500,000 to $100,000.
"The prosecution, meanwhile, argues that the Crumbleys are 'a greater risk of flight now' than they were following their arraignment, noting they are $11,000 behind on house payments," according to the Free Press. "Their house is currently for sale and they have sold their horses."
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