While Her Son's Violent Fantasies Escalated, Jennifer Crumbley Spoke Openly About an Affair

On Nov. 30, 2021, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley walked into Oxford High School outside of Detroit, Mich., and opened fire on several students and one teacher. He killed four students and injured eight using the 9mm semi-automatic handgun that was given to him by his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley. According to the Associated Press, the school made Crumbley's parents aware of some disturbing behavior the day of the shooting but they refused to remove their son from school.

Although it's unusual, James and Jennifer were charged with involuntary manslaughter mere days after the incident. Jennifer's trial began in January 2024 while her husband's trial is scheduled for March 2024. One of the more shocking pieces of information to come out during the preliminary exam in February 2022 was the fact that Jennifer and her husband were both seeing other people. Here's what we know about Jennifer Crumbley's affair.

Amanda Holland was a co-worker of Jennifer's who testified that she was seeing another man during work hours, reported the Detroit Free Press. Holland said that Jennifer told her she and James were considering a separation but in the meantime, she would often sneak over to Costco across the street from her office to meet with the other man she was dating.

The prosecution is using Holland's testimony to support their assertion that Jennifer and James were ignoring a "troubled son who was spiraling out of control, and instead focused on their own selfish needs, including having extramarital affairs and taking care of their horses." The horses they are referring to are kept at a barn Jennifer frequented after work.

On Jan. 31, 2024, a man by the name of Brian Meloche testified at Jennifer's trial. Meloche, a fire department captain, is the person Jennifer was having an affair with. Texts between Meloche and Jennifer were introduced as evidence and showed a distraught Jennifer claiming the shooting "could have been prevented," per ABC News. In subsequent texts to Meloche, Jennifer blames the school's apathy regarding concerns about her son. She wrote that the school should have prevented him from returning to class.

Meloche testified that on the day of the shooting, Jennifer "told him she was able to leave work to meet up with him even though she allegedly told school officials ... that she could not take her son home or for mental health care that day because she needed to return to work." He also told the court that Jennifer texted him about the missing gun to which he said, "contact police." While he never got the impression Jennifer didn't care for her son, Meloche did come to believe charging her was the right thing to do.

In an unsent text to Meloche, Jennifer wrote, "I'll never be OK, I lost my son. And he's a murderer and I'll forever have to live with the guilt of that. I'm not even sure life is worth living anymore." The two remained in touch until Meloche saw on the news that authorities were looking for Jennifer and James.