ONE of the Crumbleys’ former neighbors had warned child abuse authorities about the parents “leaving Ethan at home while they went out drinking.”
Kayla LeMieux claims that Jennifer and James Crumbley often left Ethan alone when they went out to bars in downtown Lake Orion when the now-accused murderer was about eight or nine years old in 2014 and 2015.
The Crumbleys lived near Lake Orion before moving to Oxford.
LeMieux told the Detroit Free Press she was so concerned about the boy’s well-being that she made an anonymous phone complaint to the state’s Children’s Protective Services agency.
She also said that when his parents were gone, Ethan would knock on her door and ask her to call his parents.
“They didn’t leave him with a phone,'” said LeMieux.
The now-28-year-old said she worked with Jennifer at a restaurant in 2012 and considered her a friend. However, their friendship ended in part because of LeMieux’s concerns about Ethan.
“It was really when I finally started to say more, because I was just like, even after calling CPS, they were still doing it and even me saying something to them, they were still like ‘Oh he is fine,’” LeMieux told the Free Press, which saw Facebook messages supporting her story.
It’s unclear if CPS ever did anything about LeMieux’s complaint, but a spokesman with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services told the Free Press all reports are confidential.
Both Jennifer and James Crumbley have been charged with involuntary manslaughter over their son’s alleged shooting at Oxford High School last week.
Officials tracked down the teenager’s parents to a basement in Detroit, Michigan, early on Saturday after authorities launched a manhunt for the pair.
The parents are thought to have gone on the run after involuntary manslaughter charges were issued against them.
Both parents have pleaded not guilty.
Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at Oxford High School, will be charged with one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder in the shooting that killed Hana St Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17.
He also faces seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
According to prosecutors, the gun – a semiautomatic 9mm Sig Sauer – was stored in an unlocked safe inside Jennifer and James‘ bedroom.
Ethan reportedly got the weapon as an early Christmas present on the day after Thanksgiving.
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