Latest news with #OxfordHighSchool
IOL News
16-07-2025
- IOL News
An Epidemic of Mal-Parenting
The alarming rise in juvenile delinquency highlights a pressing issue: mal-parenting. This article explores the tragic case of Ethan Crumbly and argues that effective parenting is crucial in preventing crime among youth. Image: IOL The nation is afflicted with an epidemic of mal-parenting. How do we know? The persistence of shocking levels of juvenile delinquency and crime. The poster child case is Ethan Crumbly guilty of murdering four students at Oxford High School in southeastern Michigan in 2021 and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. You do not need to be a criminologist to understand the nexus between parental mal-parenting and crime. It is as obvious as the force of gravity. If there is a father in the household to impart discipline and provide a role model of righteous behavior and a mother to provide tender loving care in times of child adversity, the probability of juvenile waywardness approaches zero. The greatest influence on children are parents. Second is not even within shouting distance. Parents should spend hours daily with their children reading and discussing books that impart moral lessons like parables. Here is a partial list: Aesop's Fables; Grimm's Fairy Tales; Edith Hamilton's Greek Mythology; Charles and Mary Lamb's A Child's Version of Shakespeare; Louisa May Alcott's Little Men and Little Women; Hariet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin; Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. If you don't want to make the effort and sacrifice, then don't be a parent. It is a status freely chosen. Parents should also regularly take their children to museums. For starters, the National Museum of African American History and Culture; the National Museum of the American Indian; the Holocaust Museum; the Smithsonian Museum of American History; and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Parents should take their children on outings to Lexington Green, Mount Vernon, Monticello, Montpelier, Yorktown, the Gettysburg Battlefield, Ford's Theater, the Battle of the Little BigHorn, the Alamo, Tuskegee University, and Wounded Knee Battlefield. They should take them to performances of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ If parents do all these things, children will be so excited by learning and inspired to righteousness that crime or delinquency will never enter their minds. And the out-of-pocket costs for parents are de minimis. Every bride and groom should be required to master these lessons before marriage. They should be preached in the pulpit and taught in the home. Federal, state, and local governments should issue Parents of the Year awards superior to the kudos showered on beauty queens or football heroes. Hollywood should glamorize irreproachable parents, making them de rigueur. It's well worth the investment. As Frederick Douglass admonished, 'It's easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.' Mountains of criminological literature tell us the root causes of crime are poverty, discrimination, failing schools, lack of jobs, or the vestiges of centuries-old oppression. But crime trended down during the Great Depression and spiraled during the boom years of the 1960s. It all comes back to the family. It's easy to blame kids rather than parents. Kids have no votes. Parents do. Kids have no financial resources. Parents do. Kids are inaudible. The voices of parents are heard. It requires maturity and intellectual honesty to acknowledge we have a parent problem, not a delinquency problem. I understand that excellent parenting is arduous, demanding, and time-consuming. It requires forgoing a tempting menu of hormonal gratifications. It is not for everyone. In his first public address as Vice President, J.D. Vance declared, 'I want more babies in the United States of America.' The declaration is unobjectionable as far as it goes. But more babies without more enlightened, selfless parents are a problem. The chief victims of mal-parenting are the children whose lives are stunted and ruined. Parents everywhere, the ball is in your court. * Armstrong Williams is an American political commentator, entrepreneur, author, and talk show host. Williams writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column, has hosted a daily radio show, and hosts a nationally syndicated television program called The Armstrong Williams Show. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
CBS News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announces bid for Michigan attorney general
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who is known for handling the deadly Oxford High School shooting, announced on Tuesday that she will run for the Michigan Attorney General's office. McDonald said her focus is to "put Michiganders' needs first and do what it takes to protect our freedoms and keep our communities safe." "As the people's lawyer, the attorney general represents everyone across Michigan, from our children and our most vulnerable, to business owners, to seniors, every single one of us. The attorney general protects our freedoms, upholds the law and keeps our communities safe," McDonald said in a video. McDonald was first elected in 2020 and then reelected in the 2024 election. During her first term, she handled the shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. Four people were killed and seven others, including a teacher, were injured. The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, pleaded guilty to multiple charges and was sentenced to life in prison in December 2023. He was a 15-year-old student at Oxford at the time. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Each parent was found guilty and was recently sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. In recent months, both parents filed appeals, claiming that they didn't receive a fair trial and that the prosecutor's office entered secret deals with two school officials who testified. However, an Oakland County judge denied the request for a retrial in June 2025. The case made history as the Crumbleys were the first parents to be convicted for a mass shooting committed by their children. Before she was elected prosecutor, McDonald served as a judge on the Oakland County Circuit Court, specializing in family issues such as divorce, custody, child abuse and neglect, and adoption. She also worked as an English teacher before going to law school. McDonald's sister, Kristen McDonald Rivet, was elected in 2024 to Michigan's 8th Congressional District. McDonald joins a growing list of candidates running for the seat. Former U.S. Prosecutor Mark Totten and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit announced they were running as a Democrat. Meanwhile, attorney Kevin Kijewski announced his GOP bid for the seat. The seat is currently held by Dana Nessel, who is finishing her second term and is unable to run again due to term limits. Nessel did not announce if she is running for any local, state or federal elections.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lane Kiffin's Son Takes Visit to Rival SEC Program
Lane Kiffin's Son Takes Visit to Rival SEC Program originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Lane Kiffin has had a successful tenure with the Ole Miss Rebels since arriving at the school ahead of the 2020 season. Advertisement He has been the head coach of the Rebels for the last five seasons, compiling a 44-18 record. They finished the 2024 season with a 10-3 record and narrowly missed out on a berth in the College Football Playoff. It was the first year of the 12-team CFP format and will continue for the 2025 season. Ole Miss head football coach Lane Chenault-Imagn Images Kiffin's son, Knox, plays quarterback for Oxford High School and has started taking official school visits. He is on the Alabama Crimson Tide's campus this weekend, one of the Rebels' biggest rivals. He is checking everything out, even though he is in no rush to commit to a school. He is part of the 2028 recruiting class but isn't ranked. Advertisement Take a look: The Tide always have one of the country's top recruiting classes every year and are getting a head start for 2028. As for their 2026 class, they currently have the No. 49 class in the nation per 247Sports, but that will change once they get more players to commit. They only have seven commits in the class, but it's still super early. The 2025 season will be Kalen DeBoer's second season as head coach after he took over for Nick Saban ahead of the 2024 season. He led the Tide to a 9-4 record last season and will try to get them back competing for national championships when the 2025 season starts in August. Advertisement Related: Alabama Legend CJ Mosley Announces Major Career Decision This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 21, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Yahoo
Prosecutor: Jennifer Crumbley is a greater flight risk now more than ever
The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office is imploring the Michigan Court of Appeals to keep the mother of the Oxford High School shooter locked up, maintaining she is a greater flight risk now, more than ever. In a June 20 filing with the appeals court, the prosecution argues that Jennifer Crumbley cannot be trusted to be free, especially at this stage of the game when she has already been convicted and sentenced, and the "presumption of innocence no longer applies." Crumbley was convicted and sentenced last year to 10-15 years in prison for the deaths of four students murdered by her son in the Nov. 30, 2021, mass shooting at Oxford High School. Letting her out now, the prosecution argues, is too risky, especially given her actions in the days following the shooting. Prosecutors allege the shooter's parents fled their home and hid from authorities in a building in Detroit to avoid prosecution over their actions, and inactions. "(Crumbley) has been a flight risk from the moment she was charged," Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Joseph Shada writes in a June 20 filing with the court of appeals, alleging Crumbley "presents a greater flight risk" now, more "than ever." According to the prosecution, in the days after the shooting, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the shooter's parents, hid out in an art studio in a commercial building in Detroit, where they were discovered by police following a massive manhunt. "(The parents) liquated their assets, emptied their son's bank account, abandoned a vehicle, bought burner phones, and traveled 30 to 40 miles to hide in a commercial building in Detroit," Shada writes, adding the couple also tried to hide the license plate when they parked their car outside the building they were hiding in. According to trial testimony, a 911 tipster spotted the couple's car and called authorities. "Despite the overwhelming police presence, the mass of flashing lights, and the sound of doors being broken down, the defendants did not surrender themselves, but pretended to be asleep," Shada writes. "Their deceit was laid bare when text messages from defendants came to light showing that they suspected they had been found and were 'laying low.' " Flight risk allegations aside, the prosecution also argues that Crumbley's appeal has no merit. "A jury unanimously found that defendant was grossly negligent, and her gross negligence was a cause of the four deaths in the Oxford High School shooting. She was properly convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter," Shada writes, adding her "request for bond pending appeal should be denied." The prosecution's filing comes four days after the defense asked the court of appeals to release Crumbley on bond pending the outcome of her appeal, maintaining she is no threat to anyone, and that her appeal raises a "substantial question of law or fact." Perhaps most notably, it has argued, is that a judge has concluded that the prosecution intentionally withheld evidence from the defense during and before trial, yet let that misconduct slide in denying Crumbley a retrial. Additionally, the defense insists that the alleged fugitive story is not true, maintaining that the couple were never on the run, but only hiding out of fear due to death threats they were receiving. Perhaps more importantly, the defense says, the couple had plans to turn themselves in — with their lawyers — and the prosecutor knew this. But the prosecutor still launched a manhunt for the couple and declared them fugitives, the defense argues in court filings, despite knowing of the couple's surrender plans. In a court filing this week, Crumbley's appellate lawyer Michael Dezsi cites a text message that Crumbley's trial lawyer had sent Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald in 2021, telling her of plans "to walk the Crumbleys in to be booked and process." It was sent at 6:53 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2021. Prosecutor McDonald texted back: 'Ok, Let's talk in the morning.' " There was no such morning conversation, trial testimony shows. Instead, that following day, a SWAT team was amassed and a manhunt was launched, ending with the arrest of the Crumbleys in an art studio at about 1 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2021. "So why didn't the prosecution work with counsel to allow the Crumbleys to walk into a police station for processing?" Dezsi writes. "Seemingly, the prosecution was motivated by a desire to sensationalize the Crumbleys arrest as part and parcel of its broad ranging public relations 'smear campaign' that started in the hours following the incident.' Dezsi also urged the appeals court not to "give weight" to prior bond decisions involving Crumbley, who was denied bond at least eight times pending the outcome of her trial. Dezsi argues the standards for bond pretrial are different from on appeal. Specifically, he says, the only two legal standards that Crumbley must meet to be released on bond pending her appeal are proving she is not a danger to society, and that her appeal raises "a substantial question of law or fact." Dezsi maintains Crumbley meets both standards. "Mrs. Crumbley is not a danger to the public," Dezsi writes, adding she's also not a flight risk, despite the prosecution's assertions. And if the court has any flight risk concerns, he writes, it can address those by placing an electronic monitoring device on Crumbley. "The prosecution's main objection to Mrs. Crumbley's instant bond motion is that she is a 'flight risk.' … Nowhere in its response brief does the prosecution argue that Mrs. Crumbley poses a danger to others. Because she does not," Dezsi writes. More: Judge: Prosecutor broke the rules, but Crumbleys still not getting new trials Jennifer and James Crumbley made history last year after separate juries convicted both parents of involuntary manslaughter, concluding the couple's actions and inactions led to the deaths of four students murdered by their son: Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17. Six other students and a teacher also were injured. Prosecutors argued at trial that the Crumbleys, more than anyone else, could have prevented the massacre had they done even the "smallest of things," like lock up the gun that their son snuck out of their home and used to shoot up his school, tell school officials that he had access to a gun, or brought him home from school after being notified about his troubling behavior on the morning before the shooting, when he drew a picture of a gun, a bleeding human body, and scrawled the words: "The thoughts won't stop, help me." After seeing the cryptic message during a meeting with school officials on the morning of the shootings, the Crumbleys returned to their jobs and promised to get their son help within 48 hours. Their son returned to class after school officials concluded he was no threat to himself, or others. His backpack, which contained the gun, was never searched. Two hours later, he fired his first shot. The Crumbleys maintain they had no idea their son planned to shoot up his school, never saw signs that he was mentally ill — despite prosecutors claiming otherwise — and that the gun at issue was hidden in their bedroom armoire, unloaded, with the bullets hidden in another drawer. More: Jennifer Crumbley appeals to higher court: I'm no threat. Release me on bond The shooter, who was 15 at the time of the massacre, pleaded guilty to all his crimes and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He also is appealing. Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas:@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Prosecution fights to keep Oxford school shooter's mom locked up
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Yahoo
Prosecutor: Jennifer Crumbley is a greater flight risk now more than ever
The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office is imploring the Michigan Court of Appeals to keep the mother of the Oxford High School shooter locked up, maintaining she is a greater flight risk now, more than ever. In a June 20 filing with the appeals court, the prosecution argues that Jennifer Crumbley cannot be trusted to be free, especially at this stage of the game when she has already been convicted and sentenced, and the "presumption of innocence no longer applies." Crumbley was convicted and sentenced last year to 10-15 years in prison for the deaths of four students murdered by her son in the Nov. 30, 2021, mass shooting at Oxford High School. Letting her out now, the prosecution argues, is too risky, especially given her actions in the days following the shooting. Prosecutors allege the shooter's parents fled their home and hid from authorities in a building in Detroit to avoid prosecution over their actions, and inactions. "(Crumbley) has been a flight risk from the moment she was charged," Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Joseph Shada writes in a June 20 filing with the court of appeals, alleging Crumbley "presents a greater flight risk" now, more "than ever." According to the prosecution, in the days after the shooting, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the shooter's parents, hid out in an art studio in a commercial building in Detroit, where they were discovered by police following a massive manhunt. "(The parents) liquated their assets, emptied their son's bank account, abandoned a vehicle, bought burner phones, and traveled 30 to 40 miles to hide in a commercial building in Detroit," Shada writes, adding the couple also tried to hide the license plate when they parked their car outside the building they were hiding in. According to trial testimony, a 911 tipster spotted the couple's car and called authorities. "Despite the overwhelming police presence, the mass of flashing lights, and the sound of doors being broken down, the defendants did not surrender themselves, but pretended to be asleep," Shada writes. "Their deceit was laid bare when text messages from defendants came to light showing that they suspected they had been found and were 'laying low.' " Flight risk allegations aside, the prosecution also argues that Crumbley's appeal has no merit. "A jury unanimously found that defendant was grossly negligent, and her gross negligence was a cause of the four deaths in the Oxford High School shooting. She was properly convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter," Shada writes, adding her "request for bond pending appeal should be denied." The prosecution's filing comes four days after the defense asked the court of appeals to release Crumbley on bond pending the outcome of her appeal, maintaining she is no threat to anyone, and that her appeal raises a "substantial question of law or fact." Perhaps most notably, it has argued, is that a judge has concluded that the prosecution intentionally withheld evidence from the defense during and before trial, yet let that misconduct slide in denying Crumbley a retrial. Additionally, the defense insists that the alleged fugitive story is not true, maintaining that the couple were never on the run, but only hiding out of fear due to death threats they were receiving. Perhaps more importantly, the defense says, the couple had plans to turn themselves in — with their lawyers — and the prosecutor knew this. But the prosecutor still launched a manhunt for the couple and declared them fugitives, the defense argues in court filings, despite knowing of the couple's surrender plans. In a court filing this week, Crumbley's appellate lawyer Michael Dezsi cites a text message that Crumbley's trial lawyer had sent Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald in 2021, telling her of plans "to walk the Crumbleys in to be booked and process." It was sent at 6:53 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2021. Prosecutor McDonald texted back: 'Ok, Let's talk in the morning.' " There was no such morning conversation, trial testimony shows. Instead, that following day, a SWAT team was amassed and a manhunt was launched, ending with the arrest of the Crumbleys in an art studio at about 1 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2021. "So why didn't the prosecution work with counsel to allow the Crumbleys to walk into a police station for processing?" Dezsi writes. "Seemingly, the prosecution was motivated by a desire to sensationalize the Crumbleys arrest as part and parcel of its broad ranging public relations 'smear campaign' that started in the hours following the incident.' Dezsi also urged the appeals court not to "give weight" to prior bond decisions involving Crumbley, who was denied bond at least eight times pending the outcome of her trial. Dezsi argues the standards for bond pretrial are different from on appeal. Specifically, he says, the only two legal standards that Crumbley must meet to be released on bond pending her appeal are proving she is not a danger to society, and that her appeal raises "a substantial question of law or fact." Dezsi maintains Crumbley meets both standards. "Mrs. Crumbley is not a danger to the public," Dezsi writes, adding she's also not a flight risk, despite the prosecution's assertions. And if the court has any flight risk concerns, he writes, it can address those by placing an electronic monitoring device on Crumbley. "The prosecution's main objection to Mrs. Crumbley's instant bond motion is that she is a 'flight risk.' … Nowhere in its response brief does the prosecution argue that Mrs. Crumbley poses a danger to others. Because she does not," Dezsi writes. More: Judge: Prosecutor broke the rules, but Crumbleys still not getting new trials Jennifer and James Crumbley made history last year after separate juries convicted both parents of involuntary manslaughter, concluding the couple's actions and inactions led to the deaths of four students murdered by their son: Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17. Six other students and a teacher also were injured. Prosecutors argued at trial that the Crumbleys, more than anyone else, could have prevented the massacre had they done even the "smallest of things," like lock up the gun that their son snuck out of their home and used to shoot up his school, tell school officials that he had access to a gun, or brought him home from school after being notified about his troubling behavior on the morning before the shooting, when he drew a picture of a gun, a bleeding human body, and scrawled the words: "The thoughts won't stop, help me." After seeing the cryptic message during a meeting with school officials on the morning of the shootings, the Crumbleys returned to their jobs and promised to get their son help within 48 hours. Their son returned to class after school officials concluded he was no threat to himself, or others. His backpack, which contained the gun, was never searched. Two hours later, he fired his first shot. The Crumbleys maintain they had no idea their son planned to shoot up his school, never saw signs that he was mentally ill — despite prosecutors claiming otherwise — and that the gun at issue was hidden in their bedroom armoire, unloaded, with the bullets hidden in another drawer. More: Jennifer Crumbley appeals to higher court: I'm no threat. Release me on bond The shooter, who was 15 at the time of the massacre, pleaded guilty to all his crimes and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He also is appealing. Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas:@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Prosecution fights to keep Oxford school shooter's mom locked up
