The parents of a 15-year-old Michigan boy accused of manslaughter in connection with charges their son killed four classmates at his high school earlier this week are not running from police, their attorneys said Friday.
Attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley, Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, disputed the assertion by Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard that the couple was “fleeing.”
"On Thursday night we contacted the Oakland County prosecutor to discuss this matter and to advise her that James and Jennifer Crumbley would be turning themselves in to be arraigned,” they said in a statement.
“Instead of communicating with us, the prosecutor held a press conference to announce charges. The Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety. They are returning to the area to be arraigned. They are not fleeing from law enforcement despite recent comments in media reports."
Grand Rapids television station WZZM reported that the attorneys have contacted police informing them that the Crumbleys were not responding to attempts to contact them.
"The action of fleeing and ignoring their attorney certainly adds weight to the charges," Bouchard said in a release. "They cannot run from their part in this tragedy."
Michigan issued a “be on the lookout” alert for the Crumbleys early Friday afternoon, asking the public to report to police if they see the couple’s vehicle.
The alert was announced after Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald declared she was charging Crumbley’s parents with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the charges against their son, Ethan.
Ethan Crumbley is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, seven counts of assault with intent to commit murder, a count of “terrorism causing death,” and 12 weapons counts in relation to the shooting at Oxford High School on Tuesday.
A lieutenant in the Oakland County Sheriff’s office told Judge Julie Nicholson on Friday during a hearing in the case that the parents were not in custody, prompting Bouchard to characterize the couple as being on the run, a portrayal picked up by many media outlets.
McDonald claimed that allowing Ethan Crumbley access to the weapon, purchased by his father days before the shooting, warranted the manslaughter charges against the parents
“The parents were the only individuals in the position to know the access to weapons,” McDonald said Thursday. The gun “seems to have been just freely available to that individual.”
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