Parents return to court in Feb.

By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
The primary suspect in the Nov. 30 Oxford High School shooting pleaded “not guilty” when arraigned in the Oakland County Circuit Court on Wednesday, Jan. 12.

The arraignment marks a new phase in the case against 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley as it moves into the court of Judge Kwamé Rowe. Defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin spoke on behalf of the suspect, forging the reading of charges and entering the plea in his stead.
A pre-trial conference is planned for today ( Jan. 19) between attorneys to schedule a hearing over where Crumbley will be held per federal statute. He was originally held in the county juvenile detention facility before he was moved to the Oakland County Jail on the condition that he is kept out of “sight or sound” of adult inmates, though the defense team raised concerns that he was not properly separated from adults.
Crumbley is being tried as an adult and faces four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with attempt to murder, 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and one count of terrorism causing death.
Rowe reappointed Deborah McKelvy as the suspect’s guardian since his parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are both on trial for four counts of involuntary manslaughter for supplying their son with the gun used in the Nov. 30 shooting. Jennifer and James Crumbley return to court on Feb. 8 for their preliminary examination, which could lead to the case getting elevated to the circuit court. All implicated members of the Crumbley family are detained in the Oakland County Jail and are not in contact with each other.