The Oakland County Sheriff's Office provided this combo from photos. The parents of the teen accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School pleaded not guilty on Saturday. In this photo provided by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, a person is standing.
The Crumbleys were charged with manslaughter in the deaths of four Oxford High School students, who police say were shot by their son, and they were held in jail cells for a tense hearing on Saturday.
As the judge read the charges for each of the four students, she asked if she understood.
Crumbley said that he understood.
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The Crumbleys, who were considered fugitives by authorities, were captured in Detroit after an intense hunt and then placed in the same jail facility in Michigan that held their son.
The information that emerged Saturday, along with the arrest and the arraignment, only began to answer some of the questions about who the Crumbleys are, how they got to this moment and what could have prevented the tragedy at Oxford High.
The Crumbleys were accused of being involved in the shootings as details about their apparent attempts to evade law enforcement were revealed. They were arrested around 1:30 a.m. Authorities received a tip on the location of the couple. The sheriff of Oakland County said that the Crumbleys were found in a Detroit art studio. He said they were not armed.
The lawyers for the couple said at the Saturday morning hearing that the couple did not turn themselves in earlier because of a miscommunication with the prosecutor's office. During a news conference Saturday afternoon, the characterization was disputed by Bouchard.
I am not going to get into the specifics, but I think where they were and how they were seems to support the position they were hiding and they weren't looking for surrendering at that point," he said.
Authorities believe that someone helped the couple gain access to the building and that someone else could be charged with aiding and abetting. He said that it was not clear if the son of the parents knew about the charges.
Karen D. McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor, said that there was overwhelming evidence that the Crumbleys should have known that their son was a danger to his school.
Shannon Smith, one of the couple's lawyers, told the judge that a full picture would come to light. She said there was more going on than what the court had been made aware of.
The defense team revealed a few details of the couple's lives.
The lawyer for the woman said she grew up in a Detroit suburb about 20 minutes from Oxford. Her lawyer said that she was working as a marketing director. A Michigan real estate company had listed her as an employee, but her profile was recently removed.
According to her lawyer, she was charged with driving under the influence years ago.
His lawyer said that James Crumbley had a conviction for a drunk driving but no more serious charges.
Crumbley listed a job history at a few small software and technology companies in his Facebook profile. He worked as an independent contractor for a San Francisco-based technology company from February to July.
Chase Gonzales, the company's chief executive, said that he was terminated for reasons unrelated to the incident.
The couple once lived in Florida but returned to Michigan several years ago, according to their lawyers. They bought a home in Oxford.
A former girlfriend of James Crumbley struggled Saturday to reconcile the current news with the man she once fell in love with. In an interview outside her home in Jacksonville, Florida, she spoke about her relationship with Crumbley and her son, who is 18 years old.
She said she tried to help him come to terms with what happened with his family, while being bombarded with calls, texts and Facebook messages. The interviewer asked if he would be interviewed.
She said that they met when she was 18. He lived in the apartment below hers while she worked as a waitress. She said he worked in several different jobs.
She said she loved him to death. He was fun, loving and caring. We had a great relationship. She said that it was the first serious relationship for her and lasted until she was 25.
James and Jen were married three months after they broke up. She said that her relationship with James Crumbley deteriorated after that.
The meeting involving the Crumbleys and school officials was revealed by the school district. Tim Throne wrote a letter to parents and staff that said there had been two incidents with the shooting suspect.
Throne wrote that the student's parents never told the school district that he had access to a firearm or that they had recently purchased a firearm for him.
Throne wrote that a teacher saw a student looking at images of bullets on his cellphone. A counselor and a staff member met with him and he said that shooting sports were a family hobby. The school tried to contact her, but she didn't reply right away. The letter said that the parents confirmed their son's account the next day.
The morning of the shootings, a teacher observed drawings by Ethan Crumbley that raised concern. McDonald said that the drawing featured images of a gun, a person who had been shot, a laughing emoji and the words, "blood everywhere." Help me.
Throne said that the teacher notified the school counselors and the dean of students. Throne said that the student was taken to the guidance counselor's office, where he claimed the drawing was part of a video game he was designing.
Throne said that school officials asked probing questions about the student's potential to harm others or himself after the student's parents arrived. His answers were confirmed by his parents and the counselors concluded that he did not intend to hurt anyone.
Throne wrote that counselors did not believe the student would harm others based on his behavior, responses and demeanor.
Parents were told they had 48 hours to seek counseling for their child or the school would contact Children's Protective Services, Throne wrote.
He wrote that the parents refused to take their son home for the day and left without him.
The decision was made that their son would be returned to the classroom rather than sent home because he had no previous problems.
The letter said that the incidents were never elevated to the principal or assistant principal's offices.
Throne said that the counselors made a judgement based on their training and clinical experience.
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