A Michigan judge on Tuesday denied requests to transfer accused school shooter Ethan Crumbley to a juvenile facility.
Crumbley, 15, has been housed in the Oakland County Jail since his arrest following the November 30 massacre at Oxford High School that left four students dead and six students and teacher wounded, as CrimeOnline previously reported. He is incarcerated in a cell in the jail’s clinic away from the adult population.
The teen is charged with 24 felonies, including murder, terrorism, and attempted murder.
Judge Kwame Rowe heard arguments last week from defense and prosecuting attorneys on the issue and issued his 12-page opinion that “it is in the interest of justice” to keep Crumbley at the jail, Detroit News reported.
Crumbley’s attorney, Paulette Loftin, argued then that Crumbley could receive better care from the juvenile detention center, but Rowe, noting multiple escapes from Children’s Village in the past several months, wrote that “it is clear that Children’s Village is incapable of safely housing the defendant.”
The defendant has been “actively communicating with the public — sometimes several times a day” over the internet, Rowe wrote, and has not expressed any concerns about his own mental health. In fact, the judge noted, he wrote in a January 16 email that “I got a cell to myself 3 meals a day, a TV to watch and the guards are pretty nice.”
Rowe also mentioned other of Crumbley’s writings in journals, emails, and texts, including “a plan to kidnap, rape, torture and then kill an unidentified female.”
“Lastly, the Court will note that prior to the alleged incident Defendant killed several baby birds. In his journal he noted he killed ‘8 infant baby birds by slowly (sic) torturing them until death,’” Rowe wrote. “The above prior delinquent acts are of grave concern to this court.”
Rowe did ask prosecutors to work with the jail to see if they could find a way to house Crumbley without a 24-hour light.
A hearing to review Crumbley’s placement is scheduled for March 24.
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[Featured image: Ethan Crumbley at last week’s placement hearing. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP, Pool)]
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