DETROIT (AP) — A teenager charged with killing four students at their Michigan high school waived a key hearing Friday, a decision that moves his case straight to a trial court, while his parents faced a separate court appearance to try to get out of jail.
Prosecutors in Michigan typically have to present some evidence to show there’s probable cause to send people to trial on felony charges, a low bar. Ethan Crumbley waived his right to go through that stage.
Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with murder and other crimes. Four students were killed and others were injured during a shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30.
Crumbley’s court hearing lasted less than 10 minutes. His parents were due in another court Friday afternoon to try to get their bond lowered to $100,000 from $500,000 and leave jail.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are charged with involuntary manslaughter. They’re accused of making a gun accessible to their son and refusing to take him home earlier that day when school counselors confronted them with distressing drawings of violence.
FILE – This undated combo of photos provided by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office shows James Crumbley, left, and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, a teen accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, in Michigan. The parents, charged with their son in the fatal shooting, are returning to court Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, to ask for a lower bail.(Oakland County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File) 
FILE – This booking photo released by the Oakland County, Mich., Sheriff’s Office shows Ethan Crumbley, who is charged as an adult with murder and terrorism for a shooting that killed four fellow students and injured more at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich. Ethan Crumbley, faces a court hearing Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. His parents, James Crumbley, and Jennifer Crumbley also have a court date on Friday to ask for reduced bail, as they have been charged along with Ethan in in the fatal shooting. (Oakland County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File) 
This image from 52-3 District Court shows Ethan Crumbley in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. The teenager charged with killing four students at their Michigan high school has waived a key court hearing. The decision means Crumbley’s case moves straight to a trial court in suburban Detroit. Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other counts for the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles north of Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) 
This image from 52-3 District Court shows Ethan Crumbley in a Zoom hearing in Rochester Hills, Mich., Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. The teenager charged with killing four students at their Michigan high school has waived a key court hearing. The decision means Crumbley’s case moves straight to a trial court in suburban Detroit. Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other counts for the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 30 miles north of Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
“The last thing they expected was that a school shooting would take place, or that their son would be responsible,” defense attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman said in a court filing.
Prosecutors are opposing the lower bond. They noted that the elder Crumbleys were missing for hours when charges were announced Dec. 3 before police found them miles away in a Detroit art studio early the next morning.
Smith said they had planned to appear in court on Dec. 4.
The Crumbleys “will flee if they get the opportunity,” prosecutors said in a court filing, noting they were behind in mortgage payments and had put their house up for sale.
Oxford High students are expected to return to school next week for the first time since the shooting but at a different building. The high school, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit, could reopen during the week of Jan. 23.
