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Jury seated in trial for James Crumbley, father of Oxford High School shooter

School Shooting Father Charged
Posted at 2:54 PM, Mar 06, 2024
and last updated 2024-03-06 20:05:38-05

(WXYZ) — A jury has been seated in the trial for James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford shooter, on day two of jury selection.

The jury is comprised of nine women and six men.

Attorneys on both sides debated Wednesday which exhibits to allow — those included pictures of the shooter's bedroom, GPS locations, text messages from the shooter's phone, and photos of personal belongings when the parents were arrested in Detroit.

The judge has decided to allow all of those to be admitted, but not a photo of the school bathroom after the shooting. Wider-angled photos of the hallways following the shooting will be permitted.

Opening statements are expected to begin on Thursday morning.

Leading up to the trial, Judge Cheryl Matthews denied a request from James and his attorney to move the case outside of Oakland County.

James' defense attorney, Mariell Lehman, argued that he couldn't get a fair trial in Oakland County due to widespread publicity around the case and his wife, Jennifer's, recent conviction on manslaughter charges in connection to the Oxford High School shooting.

Watch our report about the James Crumbley trial below:

Father of Oxford High School shooter on trial for involuntary manslaughter

James is facing four charges of involuntary manslaughter and is accused of making a gun accessible to his son, the shooter, and failing to get him mental health care.

Matthews ruled that only one student who witnessed the shooting could testify, and could only testify about what they saw, not the emotional impact the shooting had.

Last month, a jury found Jennifer Crumbley, James’ wife, guilty on all four counts of involuntary manslaughter. She faces up to 15 years in prison.

Jennifer’s trial lasted about two weeks.

Watch our story from when Jennifer was found guilty below:

Jennifer Crumbley found guilty on all counts of involuntary manslaughter

The shooter pleaded guilty to the murders of four of his classmates and was sentenced in December. But since he is planning to appeal his life sentence, if he were to get on the stand and plead the Fifth, the judge said it would have triggered a mistrial in his mother's case.

Jennifer’s trial received national attention, specifically from legal experts since the unprecedented charges against the parents could impact how future school shooting cases are handled by prosecutors.