Jennifer Crumbley’s appeal is pending before the Michigan Court of Appeals, where it has been consolidated with her husband James Crumbley’s appeal after her request to sever the two was denied in September 2025. She remains incarcerated at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan, after the Michigan Supreme Court denied her request for release on bond in July 2025 and the trial judge denied her motion for a new trial in June 2025. The latest update on the Jennifer Crumbley appeal is that no ruling on the merits has issued, and she continues serving her 10-to-15-year sentence while the consolidated appeal proceeds.
Where the Appeal Stands Now
After Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews denied post-conviction relief at the trial court level in June 2025, the case moved up to the Michigan Court of Appeals. Jennifer Crumbley’s attorney, Michael Dezsi, has framed the appeal around what he calls a “substantial question of law”: whether a parent can be held criminally liable for the independent actions of a third person. He has described the issues on appeal as “new and unique.”1WEMU. Jennifer Crumbley Asks to Be Released While Appeal Plays Out
In September 2025, Jennifer Crumbley asked the Court of Appeals to sever her appeal from her husband’s, citing “conflicting interests” and the potential for prejudice if the two were heard together. The court denied that request, finding a consolidated appeal would not deprive either defendant of a fair process or block either from raising individual issues.2Click On Detroit. Jennifer Crumbley’s Request to Sever Appeal From Husband’s Denied The consolidated appeal remains open before the Court of Appeals.
Michigan Supreme Court Denies Release on Bond
Before the appeal briefing advanced, Dezsi asked that Jennifer Crumbley be released on bond while the case played out. He argued she had already served more than three and a half years and that the appeal raised novel legal questions warranting her release in the interim.1WEMU. Jennifer Crumbley Asks to Be Released While Appeal Plays Out
Prosecutors opposed the request. They pointed to the couple’s 2021 attempt to hide in a Detroit warehouse after being charged, when they withdrew $4,000 and were located by police early the following morning, an episode Detroit Police Chief James White said was “very likely” an attempt to flee to Canada.3ABC News. Parents of Alleged Michigan School Shooter Ethan Crumbley The Oakland County Prosecutor’s office noted her bond had already been reviewed by courts nine times since she was charged, and that she was no longer entitled to the presumption of innocence after her jury conviction.4Michigan Public. MI Supreme Court Denies Jennifer Crumbley Release Request
On July 11, 2025, the Michigan Supreme Court issued an unsigned order denying the bond request, stating it was “not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed by this Court.” The order upheld a prior denial from the Court of Appeals and confirmed she would remain in prison during the appeal.4Michigan Public. MI Supreme Court Denies Jennifer Crumbley Release Request
Motion for New Trial Denied
The core substantive claim Dezsi has pressed is that prosecutors committed discovery violations by failing to disclose “proffer agreements” reached with two Oxford High School employees before trial: counselor Shawn Hopkins and dean of students Nicholas Ejak. Dezsi argued the agreements amounted to use immunity, that the school staffers had “obvious criminal exposure” tied to their interactions with Ethan Crumbley on the morning of the shooting, and that the undisclosed deals may have shaped their testimony about a school meeting with the parents just hours before the attack. He called the nondisclosure “unethical misconduct.”5Fox 2 Detroit. Jennifer Crumbley Due in Court as She Seeks to Overturn Oxford High School Shooting Conviction
The prosecution rejected the characterization. Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast told the court, “There was no immunity” and “Nothing was offered for testimony,” arguing the employees were subpoenaed and the conviction rested on substantial objective evidence independent of what they said on the stand. Judge Matthews said the court was “likely in agreement” that discovery violations had occurred but was skeptical of the defense’s proposed remedy of outright acquittal, noting the strength of the remaining evidence.6Click On Detroit. Judge Hears Arguments About Proffer Agreements as Jennifer Crumbley Seeks New Trial
In June 2025, Judge Matthews denied the new trial motions filed by both Jennifer and James Crumbley, finding both had received fair trials. Prosecutor Karen McDonald responded that the ruling “makes it clear that no issue raised by the defense affected the trial or the jury’s verdict.”7Court TV. Judge Upholds James and Jennifer Crumbley’s Convictions
Sanction Against Her Attorney
Dezsi separately moved to remove Prosecutor McDonald from the case entirely. Judge Matthews denied that motion for lack of jurisdiction and sanctioned Dezsi $1,657.70, calling the filing improper. Dezsi has appealed the sanction and said he would “not be bullied or intimidated into being silent about the prosecutor’s misconduct.”8Click On Detroit. Jennifer Crumbley’s Attorney Fined for Filing Improper Motion to Remove Prosecutor From Case
Where She Is Held and When She Could Be Released
Jennifer Crumbley is housed at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Michigan’s only prison for female inmates. She was transferred there from the Oakland County Jail in April 2024 after sentencing. A request to serve her sentence at her attorney’s guest home was denied before the transfer.9CBS News Detroit. James and Jennifer Crumbley Sent to Separate Michigan Prisons
According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, her earliest release date is December 2, 2031, with a maximum release date in 2036.10Mid Michigan Now. Jennifer Crumbley Sentenced in Connection to School Shooting Moved to Michigan Prison
The Conviction Being Appealed
The appeal challenges Jennifer Crumbley’s February 6, 2024 conviction on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each student killed in the November 30, 2021 shooting at Oxford High School by her son Ethan Crumbley. She was the first parent in the United States convicted of manslaughter for a mass shooting committed by their child.11WFAE. Jennifer Crumbley Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter Over Son’s School Shooting
On April 9, 2024, Judge Matthews sentenced both parents to 10 to 15 years in prison, the maximum the prosecution had sought; the defense had asked for less than five years. Each defendant received credit for 858 days already served in jail.12CNN. James and Jennifer Crumbley Sentencing13ABC News. Jennifer and James Crumbley Parents Michigan School Shooter Sentenced Matthews described the convictions as “not about poor parenting” but about “repeated acts, or lack of acts, that could have halted an oncoming runaway train.”14NPR. Crumbley Parents Oxford School Shooter Sentence
The trial court’s authority to send the case to a jury had already been tested once on appeal. In an opinion filed March 23, 2023, a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals held that the evidence “squarely supports” factual causation and that a reasonable juror could find the son’s actions “reasonably foreseeable” given the parents’ gross negligence.15Michigan Courts. People v. Crumbley, Court of Appeals Opinion That ruling addressed whether the charges could go to trial; the current appeal addresses what happened at and after trial.
Civil Lawsuits Moving Alongside the Appeal
The criminal appeal is separate from the civil litigation brought by victims’ families, but the two tracks are moving at the same time and are often confused. Jennifer Crumbley is not a defendant in the civil suits described here; the defendants are the school district, school staff, Michigan State Police, and the gun store.
In August 2025, the families of Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling accepted $500,000 settlements from Oxford Community Schools. The families of Hana St. Juliana and Tate Myre publicly rejected the same offer, with Steve St. Juliana and Buck Myre calling it “insulting” and a “slap in the face” and objecting to the ultimatum-style deadline attached.16Click On Detroit. Two Families of Students Killed in Oxford School Shooting Accept Settlement Offered by District17WXYZ. Oxford Families Rebuke Board’s Settlement Offer That Came With Ultimatum
A federal “state-created danger” lawsuit was dismissed in March 2025 when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the school employees’ conduct did not “shock the conscience,” ordering all federal claims thrown out. The court noted that state-court claims against the district and others were still pending.18Justia. St. Juliana v. Oxford Community School District
In July 2025, the Michigan Court of Appeals revived a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the St. Juliana family against the Michigan State Police, reversing a lower court finding that the family had missed a filing deadline.19Michigan Public. Court of Appeals Allows Lawsuit by Oxford Family Against Michigan State Police A suit by a survivor’s family against Acme Shooting Sports, the store that sold the firearm, remains active; the store is seeking dismissal through the Michigan Court of Appeals.20WGVU News. Store That Sold Gun Used in Oxford Shooting Wants Lawsuit Dismissed