James and Jennifer Crumbley, charged with involuntary manslaughter in their son’s killing spree a year ago at Oxford High School in Michigan, say they have a friend who is willing to put them up if they are released on bond.
But the prosecution argues that friend isn’t exactly trustworthy — given what it discovered in a background check.
The friend, referred to as B.J. in court filings, lives in Sanilac County, just northeast of Oxford, and has a checkered past. According to the assistant prosecutor in Oakland County, B.J. is “not a responsible member of the community.”
- In May, B.J. faked being transgender to get into a women’s locker room to make threatening statements. He wore a “transwoman” T-shirt to the gym and asked a front desk employee which bathroom he could use. Then he became upset because he was “tired of this woke s—.” No charges were filed by Port Huron police.
- A bench warrant for his arrest was active for nearly six months in 2020 over his failure to appear at a creditor’s exam in Sanilac County Circuit Court.
- In 2017, B.J. unsuccessfully tried to get permission to use his home as a large-scale marijuana grow facility, acknowledging that he has been growing 72 pot plants on his property for a period of a year.
B.J. has also expressed “extremist views” on Facebook.
Some fine examples include:
- “The virus is killing people left and write”
- “The Biden administration is trafficking children for sex and cheap labor”
- “Ye said the Jews control the money so the IRS freezes his bank accounts”
It’s unknown if the Crumbley lawyers vetted B.J. before asking the judge to consider allowing the Crumbleys to stay with him if they were released on bond.
But the Sanilac County officials want nothing to do with the Crumbleys, according to the prosecutors who reached out to the neighboring law enforcement. Prosecutors told the judge, “They don’t want these defendants housed in their jurisdiction.”
Also according to the prosecutors, B.J. is a concealed pistol license holder, which would violate the Crumbleys’ bond conditions that prohibit them from accessing weapons.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews issued an order stating that she did not have the authority to decide the Crumbleys’ bond request, saying it’s a matter for the Michigan Court of Appeals, where the fate of the case is now pending.
