Appeals team for Oxford High School shooter files motion asking judge to hear testimony from additional witnesses

(WWJ) Attorneys for the Oxford High School shooter have filed a motion asking the judge to hear some additional testimony, and consider a new sentence.

WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton says this development comes as a bit of surprise, after Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty last year to four counts of first degree murder, terrorism and other charges.

Crumbley's lawyers are now arguing that the teen should not have been given a life without parole sentence.

According to the motion, filed Friday, Crumbley's appeals team wants to provide information to Oakland Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe from witnesses that Crumbley's defense team didn't using during his plea and sentencing hearings. This includes testimony from some family members.

"The argument by the shooter is essentially that testimony...should have been considered by the judge and those witnesses would have testified about the shooter's family and home life, but they were never called in any of the hearings," Langton said.

The argument, Langton explained, is that had Judge Rowe heard that additional testimony he would have given Crumbley a lesser sentence.

Langton said, according to the appeals team, some witnesses didn't testify because they feared they would be perceived as supporting the shooter, and they were concerned about harassment if they were publicly identified.

Although he was 15 at the time of the killings. Cumbley was charged as an adult, which would mean an automatically no-parole sentence. But because he was minor, the U.S. Supreme Court dictates that a Miller hearing must first be held to determine whether he could be rehabilitated.

In making a case for leniency, the teen's defense attorney, Amy Hopp, asserted that Crumbley suffers from mental illness, and sought help from his parents that he did not receive.

However, in explaining his decision to allow a no-parole sentence, Judge Rowe said the murders were methodical, intentional, and that the teen had plenty of time to change his mind. The judge added that it appears Crumbley had a "good childhood," with love, vacations and pets — and he did not suffer abuse at home.

Crumbley was sentenced in December, 2023, on 24 counts for carrying out the November, 2021, mass shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township. Four students were killed, and six more students and a teacher were wounded after Crumbley brought a 9mm handgun to school.

As of Tuesday morning, there was no response by the prosecutor to this appeal.

Crumbley, now 18 years old, is currently incarcerated at the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee.

The judge will hear the argument next week.