Photo: David Guralnick-Pool / Getty Images
The young man of 30 years old, Ethan Crumbley, accused of the Michigan high school shooting in which four students were killed in November, should remain in adult jail because his mental maturity is above his age, prosecutors argued.
Crumbley faces a series of charges, including murder, as adult for allegedly opening fire at Oxford High School in Michigan on 30 November
, killing four students and injuring six students and one teacher.
Due to the seriousness of the crimes he faces, has been confined in prison Oakland County . And last Tuesday they argued that he should remain there to be transferred to the Children’s Village center for minors in Oakland County.
“In his diary, he described the type of weapon he needed, who would be his first victim, and finally expressed that he would give himself up so he could witness the pain and suffering he caused “, said Markeisha Washington, chief of the Family Support Division of the Oakland County District Attorney’s Office. “This shows sophistication beyond that of your average guy from 12 years”.
Crumbley is under constant surveillance and is monitored every 15 minutes by an officer, according to public defender Paulette Michel Loftin.
The teenager also faces one charge of terrorism, four counts of premeditated homicide, seven charges of assault with intent to murder and 02 charges of possession of a firearm during the commission of a Serious felony.
The youth has pleaded not guilty to the charges and their attorneys have filed a notice that plan use an insanity defense at trial.
Crumbley’s defense attorney, who informed the court that she met with her client at least 12 times, said the prosecutor was arguing based on events that occurred before his client was charged. “I think it’s going to be very important for the court to look at what’s happened since he was charged,” she said.
Likewise, Loftin said that before the shooting he was hallucinated, seeing things and hearing voices. “He wasn’t sleeping, he was extremely anxious, he wasn’t eating properly” , he said, adding that Crumbley had asked his parents to see a therapist.
In addition, she said that the extreme isolation in prison “is not beneficial at all and actually harms Mr. Crumbley.”
In this sense, the prosecutors reported that the young man enjoys services in prison for adults that are not available to minors housed at the Children’s Village of Oakland County.
Currently is allowed to watch television, has access to a tablet to communicate with friends and family, is allowed to play games and has access to books, has phone privileges, receives mail and has access to the jail commissary where he has an account and can purchase certain items, the prosecution said.
For her part, the lawyer said that although she has access to the tablet, it is not enough because she remains in the cell with the device and that although he has access to a telephone, he does not have telephone numbers of any relatives “so he didn’t use the phone at all.”
On the other hand, Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe also heard arguments from Heather Calcaterra, manager of Children’s Village, who said that at the moment there are no minors charged with murder in the institution.
“I have never had a case like this in my career,” Calcaterra said. “This was a devastating situation, and we don’t know what the defendant’s presence is on our campus, in classrooms, on units, what presence, how it can trigger or affect other youth in Oakland County.”
Calcaterra added that would be worried about Crumbley’s safety in the juvenile detention center “I don’t know if he would be a target. I don’t know if his presence in a juvenile center would cause him some kind of trauma” .
The judge allowed the lawyers until the weekend to provide complementary information to the brief to consider before deciding if the defendant will be allowed go to a juvenile facility.
It is estimated that Rowe’s decision will be given next week.
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