A critical hearing for the confessed killer in the deadly Oxford High School shooting started Thursday morning and lasted well into the afternoon. Ethan Crumbley is asking a judge to avoid a sentence of life without parole after he pleaded guilty to the murders of four students and the shooting of seven other people in November 2021.
A judge is considering several factors before deciding whether or not life in prison without the possibility of parole is an appropriate punishment for the teen.
Thursday marked the first day of what is expected to be several days of public hearings.
The beginning of the hearing was a deep dive into Crumbley's journal entries, detailing how he wanted to carry out the school shooting.
"I want to shoot up the f****** school so badly," he wrote in one of his entries.
The educator who was injured in the shooting, Molly Darnell, also took the witness stand today, explaining what happened on Nov. 30, 2021, after she locked eyes with Crumbley before being shot.
"He was aiming to kill me," said Darnell.
She detailed her first thought when she saw the shooter with the gun outside her door, saying she realized there was no orange tip and that the threat was real.
When he fired the shots, she said they were physically loud and that she "could feel them coming through that door."
Defense attorneys want the judge to throw out the life without parole and are arguing his home environment and mental illness are factors to be considered.
Prosecutors had a plan to call detectives and survivors to the stand and show surveillance video from the devastating day.
Starting today, the “All For Oxford Resiliency Center," a program of Common Ground, will offer therapy dogs and extra support.
Their hours will be 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to help process emotions. Food will also be provided at their location. The address is 1370 S. Lapeer Road in Oxford.
7 Action News is in court to bring you all the developments, as evidence is presented on both sides. After the hearing is complete, the judge will review the case and a separate sentencing hearing will take place.
