By Mark Gray
11:59am PST, Feb 1, 2024
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The mother of Michigan high school shooter Ethan Crumbley has been hiding some secrets, it was revealed in court. Jennifer Crumbley is standing trial for involuntary manslaughter over the 2021 school shooting her son perpetrated.
On Wednesday, Jan. 31, the world learned that Jennifer wasn't exactly faithful in her marriage: She texted her secret lover after her son went on a shooting spree, killing four classmates and injuring seven more on Nov. 30, 2021.
Keep reading to see what she texted her lover after the horrendous shooting at Oxford High School…
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On the day of the shooting, school officials met with Ethan Crumbley's parents to discuss disturbing drawings he made that hinted at a massacre. According to reports, James and Jennifer Crumbley refused to take their son out of school, claiming they both had to work.
While testifying, though, firefighter Brian Meloche painted a different picture, admitting he and Jennifer had been having an affair, and he claimed she told him she could sneak off from work that morning to meet up with him for a parking lot tryst.
Jennifer's boss later said she would have been allowed to leave work if she needed to care for her son.
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Once Jennifer Crumbley realized her son, Ethan Crumbly, had committed the awful act, she texted her secret lover, Brian Meloche.
"I have nothing to live for," she wrote Brian in text messages unveiled in court. She added that she'd "failed miserably" as a parent.
"You didn't do this," her lover wrote back, later adding, "Be careful of anything you type on messenger or text. The FBI is involved, they can access anything and everything."
In another message to her lover, Jennifer Crumbley wrote, "I need people who know us as parents to be behind us more than ever."
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Brian Meloche opened up about his ongoing clandestine relationship with Jennifer Crumbly in multiple interviews with police. He was also told that his job could be in peril because of the affair.
Details pertaining to the affair were not admissible in court during Ethan Crumbly's trial in 2022. However, Jennifer's lawyer argued that the cheating should be allowed in court for her trial, claiming Brian was pressured to incriminate her.
"At this point, her life is more important than her dignity," Jennifer's attorney Shannon Smith told the jury. "She had an affair. Lots of people have affairs. I mean, that's the bottom line. At the end of the day, it doesn't mean, you know, your kid's a school shooter."
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Jennifer Crumbly was concerned about her job status in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, more texts revealed.
Following the worrisome meeting with school officials about their concerns for her son, Ethan Crumbly, Jennifer returned to work. She was later seen screaming and appearing frantic upon hearing about an active shooter at her son's school, her boss testified.
She headed home after she left work and later texted her boss that "the gun is gone and so are the bullets." Her boss said he was "surprised" by the admission.
"I need my job. Please don't judge me for what my son did," she texted.
Jennifer was fired a few days later.
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On the heels of the shooting, officials announced charges against James and Jennifer Crumbly: They are accused of neglecting their son Ethan Crumbly's needs and of making a gun accessible at home. Authorities said they fled town and went on the run after the shooting, but Jennifer's attorney argued that wasn't the case.
"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," Shannon Smith said.
However, another text message from Jennifer to her then-boss said, "We're on the run again. Helicopters. Not sure where to. I'll message you."
Not long after, she wrote, "We're F*****."
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Ethan Crumbly, now 17, was sentenced to life in prison in 2022.
There were signs that his behavior was becoming increasingly troubling: According to DailyMail.com, a teacher emailed the then-school dean that Ethan once researched bullets in class.
Ethan "was on his phone looking at different bullets," the email shown in court read. "Now that he's on my radar, I'm also noticing that some of his previous work that he's completed from earlier in the year leans a bit toward the violent side."
Other messages show Ethan spoke of "demons" inside his family home.
Ethan's father, James Crumbly, will be tried in March 2024.
