Mom convicted in Michigan school shooting case asks to be released from prison
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images, FILE
(MICHIGAN) — Jennifer Crumbley, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting her son carried out at a Michigan high school, is asking to be released from prison as her appeal moves through the courts.
Dezsi said that Crumbley should be allowed to post bond, which would let her leave the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility while promising to appear at court dates.
“There’s no reason to keep her locked up,” Dezsi said. “She hasn’t hurt anyone, and she’s not a flight risk. This case is an overreach, blaming a parent for the problems of a whole nation.”
The trials were a rare case of parents facing criminal charges over their role in a shooting carried out by their child.
Dezsi called the sentence unfair and claimed the case was based on secret deals with two witnesses.
“Keeping Mrs. Crumbley in prison sets a bad example and rewards unfair prosecutions,” Dezsi said.
“We’re not just standing up for her — we’re standing up for all Americans who could face this kind of situation someday,” he added.
The court hasn’t decided yet whether she’ll be allowed to post bond. The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The Crumbleys’ son, Ethan Crumbley, was 15 years old at the time he opened fire at Oxford High School in 2021, killing four students. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors said Jennifer and James Crumbley ignored several warning signs in the days leading up to the shooting. The parents also bought their son the gun used in the shooting and failed to secure the weapon and limit their son’s access to it, prosecutors argued.
(DENVER, Co.) — Law enforcement agencies in the Denver, Colorado, metropolitan area are investigating a rise in burglaries targeting Asian homes, businesses and places of worship across the community.
There have been around 100 reported burglaries of Asian homes across the state this year, according to Denver ABC affiliate KMGH-TV.
The sheriff’s office in Douglas County — which is south of Denver — told ABC News that there have been around 14 burglaries targeting homes of Asian business owners since the beginning of the year. Seven of these have happened since September, it noted.
In an interview that aired on Tuesday, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly told ABC News Live’s Diane Macedo that there is a “multi-jurisdictional investigation” into a “sophisticated” operation, where the burglars are using “WiFi jammers to subvert alarm systems” and even conducting their own surveillance by setting up cameras near the homes of their victims to ensure that they are away when the burglars strike.
“Many times, these criminals will enter from the back, dressed as utility workers, are wearing vests,” Weekly said. “They’re very methodical. They plan these burglaries early, and they’ve made off with over $2.5 million that we’re aware of.”
The Douglas County Sheriff’s office first warned the community of these burglaries in an Oct. 31 statement and so far, no arrests have been made, a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
Asked why Asian business owners appear to be targeted, Weekly said that some are known to keep “large amounts” of cash in their homes, as opposed to depositing the money in a bank.
Lisa Nguyen, the owner of a plaza of Asian-owned businesses, told ABC News that one of the businesses in her plaza was burglarized.
“They are destroying small businesses,” Nguyen said in Tuesday’s interview. “The amount of money that they took is detrimental to, you know, them being able to operate.”
She’s also president-elect of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, and said that the home of one of her real estate clients was burglarized twice since September.
According to Nguyen, who shared surveillance video of both burglaries with the ABC News, $17,000 worth of merchandise was stolen from a convenience store in her plaza.
She said a burglary of that scale puts families in a position where “multiple months of rent have been stolen” and “could cause businesses to completely shut down.”
Weekly urged the community to notify law enforcement if they see anything suspicious and advised residents to keep their homes locked, install lights on their property and to implement multiple security measures to safeguard their homes, as well as to communicate with their neighbors.
“It’s really critical if somebody sees something, call law enforcement so we can get out there,” Weekly said.
Weekly held a town hall on Monday night, along with Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown, the Organized Crime Unit and 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, to address the issue and share safety information with the community.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s office also partnered with the Colorado Asian Chamber of Commerce to distribute safety tips and urge anyone who has experienced a burglary or seen anything suspicious to come forward.
Nguyen said that she hopes an arrest will be made soon.
“I think my message is just that somebody literally has to know something out there,” she said. “And you know, that’s all it’s going to take is for somebody to come forward.”
Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(TALLAHASSEE, FL) — Educators, students and advocates across the Florida higher education system spoke out Monday against the recent removal by the state of hundreds of general education courses that touch on race, gender, and sexual orientation, calling the restrictions “censorship” during a webinar hosted by the United Faculty of Florida union.
“I chose to pursue a career in education to engage students in critical thinking, adaptability and global competence — skills that are essential to success and societal contribution,” said Jeniah Jones, a Florida State College at Jacksonville professor. “Restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion in the curriculum … undermine this mission by narrowing students’ understanding of the world and their role in it.”
Educators also argue that limiting general education options may also make it harder for students to fulfill their general education requirements.
A slate of directives and policy changes from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the State University System of Florida’s Board of Governors in recent years has changed the landscape around what colleges and universities can say about race, politics, gender and sexual orientation.
DeSantis signed SB 266 in 2023, which prohibits universities from expending state or federal funds to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities that relate to diversity, equity and inclusion.
DeSantis touted the legislation at the time, saying in a statement: “Florida has ranked No. 1 in higher education for seven years in a row, and by signing this legislation we are ensuring that Florida’s institutions encourage diversity of thought, civil discourse and the pursuit of truth for generations to come.”
SB 266 amended a state statute requiring universities to go through an intensified review process to ensure that their general education course offerings are in compliance with the restrictions.
Schools are unable to offer classes that include “identity politics” or that are “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political and economic inequities,” according to the Florida statute.
At Florida State University, at least 432 courses from the college’s general education curriculum were removed in part because of the rules, according to meeting minutes from the Board of Trustees.
ABC affiliate First Coast News reported in November 2024 that University of North Florida removed 67 courses from the university’s list of general education options.
FSU told ABC News that the courses would be offered as electives instead of being able to fulfill general education requirements. UNF told First Coast News the same, that the courses will still be offered and available as electives.
The state university system’s Board of Governors also later restricted state funding toward diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including “political or social activism.”
Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. had applauded the move: “Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies.”
Marsilla Gray, a University of South Florida Ph.D. student and graduate assistant, said that professors are losing the freedom to discuss “not only the latest research in a deep and unbiased manner, but also the ability to connect how these findings relate to our society as a whole” based on these changes.
“It directly impacts student preparedness for both young scientists who want to go on to careers as researchers, physicians and educators, but also for non-STEM majors, for whom their few natural science Gen-Eds may be their only exposure to critically evaluating scientific statements and tying that to what they learn in their social science and humanities courses,” she said on the Monday call.
Robert Cassanello, a University of Central Florida history professor, said the restrictions are reminiscent of past pressures from political groups — including religious prohibitions on teachings of evolution or anthropology as well as Cold War-era prohibitions on the discussion of communism or socialism.
“When the legislature has tried to interfere with curriculum, it never produced good outcomes,” said Cassanello, in the press call.
Leah Sauceda, a Florida State University student, said a general education requirement on Latin American history led her to seek a history degree as well as an international affairs major.
“My classes helped me realize the study of history isn’t about the past, as contradictory as that sounds, but rather it is a tool to understand how the past is inextricably linked to the present and all possible futures,” she said on the Monday call. “History helps us understand the world and our place in it. It is heartbreaking to think that the same transformative opportunity I had can be taken away from future students because the Board of Governors would rather us ignore history than learn from it.”
The calls against DEI removals in higher education come as President Donald Trump implements anti-DEI restrictions on a federal level via several executive orders.
The Board of Governors declined ABC News’ request for comment.
The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, drove a pickup truck onto a sidewalk and around a parked police car serving as a barricade to plow into pedestrians over a three-block stretch of the iconic street, according to police.
Jabbar exited the vehicle armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on police officers, law enforcement said. Officers returned fire, killing Jabbar. At least two officers were injured, authorities said.
Alexis Scott-Windham was among those injured in the attack. She spoke to ABC News’ Whit Johnson about the intense experience on Thursday.
ABC NEWS: We are joined now by a young woman who, like so many others, was here on Bourbon Street ringing in the new year when the unthinkable happened. Alexis Scott-Windham is joining us now.
And Alexis, thank you so much for your time tonight. We truly appreciate it. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through over the past 24 hours here. Can you first just walk us through those first moments when you knew something was going wrong?
ALEXIS SCOTT-WINDHAM: OK, so we were on a corner by a pizza place and we noticed a loud boom, boom, boom noise and we looked to the left and somebody said “Move!” And by the time they said move, the truck was coming down and he was halfway on the sidewalk, halfway down the street.
By the time he came down the side, by the time I looked to the left, he came down the sidewalk, he had hit me on the back of my right leg, because I stepped on my left, he hit me by the right leg. And I don’t even know how did I get shot because I fell to the ground. I got up and tried to run once I heard the bullets. And once I got up, I tried to run, but my foot was leaking.
ABC NEWS: And describe what you were experiencing emotionally at the time. Obviously, you knew you were injured, but seeing, seeing the seriously wounded and, and people who had lost their lives all around you, what was going through your mind?
SCOTT-WINDHAM: Well, what was going through my mind? I was just thankful, I was just thanking Jesus, I was just telling the Lord, “Let me make it home to my daughter,” I was just thanking God. But once I got up, I seen the bodies on the ground, I was just — it was like a movie. I just couldn’t believe this happened.
Because before all this happened, everything was just going so nice, everybody was telling everybody “Happy New Year.” All the tours, like random people was telling me “Happy New Years.” I even met people from Chicago that was down here. That’s why it was just so crazy.
ABC NEWS: I’m, forgive me. I’m having a little trouble hearing you. But, but could you describe how your friends are doing today? What are their conditions?
SCOTT-WINDHAM: So me and my friend Brandon, we both got injured. I got shot in the foot and hit from the side.
And Brandon, I think he got hit by the car. His whole right side is just messed up; his left, his right leg is messed up. His back is messed up. His shoulder is messed up. He also has a little gash right here [indicating the right side of her forehead]. He’s still in the hospital, in New Orleans. He’s at Touro hospital.
ABC NEWS: And I understand that, that, forgive me. I understand that you are, you’re home today and you have a young daughter as well. As you look back on this, you know, how are you going to explain what happened to her?
SCOTT-WINDHAM: Well, when I was going through that, in my mind, I was just telling the Lord, “Just let me make it home to my daughter.” I don’t know how I’m going to explain it to her. All I can tell her is “You can still go out and have fun, but don’t be on your phone and always watch your surroundings.”
ABC NEWS: All right, Alexis Scott-Windham. Well, we are, we are so thankful that you are OK today. And thank you so much for, for taking the time to share with us what happened to you and the people you were with.
