Victims of the 2021 Oxford school massacre in Michigan testified in court Friday, giving harrowing evidence to determine whether the shooter, Ethan Crumbley, will be sentenced to life in pr!son or be eligible for parole.
The hearing, known as a Miller hearing, is being convened because of Crumbley’s age. He was only 15 at the time of the sh00ting. In Michigan, juveniles are not automatically condemned to life in pr!son without the possibility of release for first-degree m*rder, as ad*lts are. His punishment will take place at a separate hearing.
Crumbley, who pled guilty to murdering four classmates and injuring seven others at a Michigan high school, arrived in court for the hearing, which began on Thursday.
On Friday, Heidi Allen, a 17-year-old survivor of the Oxford High School sh00ting, testified about seeing the shooter enter the corridor and fatally ki!! Numerous kids.
Allen, a 10th grader at the time of the sh00ting, was on her way to the restroom when she encountered the shooter.
Allen said she knew the gunman when he walked into the hallway because she had known him since middle school, but they were never friends. When Allen saw Crumbley waving the gun, she couldn’t believe it was him.
“I just didn’t understand how somebody could do something like that,” Allen explained.
Crumbley then opened fire on all of the students in the hall, ki!!ing 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and injuring 14-year-old Phoebe Arthur.
“I saw Phoebe get shot, then I saw her boyfriend [get shot], then I saw a group of girls [get shot], then I looked away,” Allen explained.
“I just prayed and covered my head because I didn’t know if those were going to be my last moments,” Allen explained.
Allen claimed she knelt on the floor and didn’t raise her head until Crumbley walked or ran by her.
“It was quite silent. There was no screaming or yelling. “It was just gunshots,” Allen explained.
She opened her eyes to find two girls “just laying there” in the hallway and another girl in front of her. Allen stated that she asked everyone if they were all right, but only Arthur responded.
“I asked everyone in the corridor from where I was if anyone had been hit, and nobody answered because they couldn’t,” Allen explained.
According to Allen, Arthur, who had been wounded in the neck and chest, began crying and bleeding in the hallway. Allen claimed she assisted Arthur into an empty classroom and locked the door, applying pressure to her wounds and attempting to keep her awake.
“There was just blood everywhere,” Allen described the scene. “She has blood on her clothes.” Then it started to get on me, but we had no idea where it was coming from.”
“At first, I thought it wasn’t her arm, but then she took her shirt off and it was right on her chest.” Then, I assume, another shot was fired at her neck. So I grabbed her sweatshirt and applied pressure since that’s all I know how to do. “I’m not sure how to handle that,” Allen admitted.
While waiting for the police, the two girls called their parents.
“I just kept reassuring her that she’d be fine,” Allen explained.
“Then I started praying with her because I didn’t know what else to do,” Allen explained.
Student Survives Confrontation with Crumbley in Bathroom
Keegan Gregory, a freshman at the time of the ki!!ing, testified in court that he was in the bathroom when Crumbley shot and murd*red 17-year-old Justin Shilling.
Gregory stated that the two heard gunfire coming from outside the restroom door. Gregory noted that Shilling instructed him to enter the bathroom stall and stand on the toilet so that Crumbley could not see them if they walked in.
“Before the shooter kicked open the stall when we heard the shots close, [Shilling] told me that if we hear them further away, we’re gonna run,” Gregory explained.
Crumbley entered the bathroom and kicked in the stall door where the two hid. According to Gregory, Crumbley then went out of the stall but remained in the restroom.
Gregory and Shilling remained in the stall, checking to see if Crumbley was still in the bathroom, only to discover he was. Crumbley then commanded Gregory to stay still and instructed Shilling to accompany him outside the stall, which he did, Gregory recalled.
Gregory claimed he didn’t hear Shilling fight or wrestle Crumbley. “It was quiet for a second, and then I heard a shot,” Gregory recalled. Crumbley returned to the stall shortly after the shot and invited Gregory to go out with him.
Gregory claimed to have seen “Justin’s body in a pool of blood outside the stall.” “He kind of signaled for me to come over by Justin’s body,” Gregory explained.
Gregory said that as Crumbley removed the gun, he fled out of the restroom, down the hall, and into the office, making multiple turns in case Crumbley followed him.
Gregory reported seeing “another body with someone bent over it” in the hallway. “I just kept on running as fast as I could,” Gregory explained.
Assistant Principal Tried to Save Student
Kristy Gibson-Marshall, an assistant principal at Oxford High School, testified about seeing a shot student on the ground and Crumbley walking past her in the hallway during the incident.
Gibson-Marshall, formerly the assistant principal at Crumbley’s primary school, said she witnessed students rushing down the corridor minutes before the school went into lockdown on the day of the sh00ting.
Gibson-Marshall, who was still in the hallway when the school went into lockdown, said that she did not seek refuge in a classroom and instead continued strolling down the hall to assist children.
Gibson-Marshall stated that she heard what she now realizes were gunshots and moved toward the sounds before encountering Crumbley in the hallway.
“In my head, I knew I needed to go help,” Gibson-Miller explained.
Gibson-Marshall testified that she saw Crumbley lower his arm from shoulder-length height and kept walking toward him.
“I just knew it couldn’t be Ethan.” “He’d never do that,” Gibson-Marshall stated.
When Gibson-Marshall noticed a student on the ground, she asked Crumbley if he was okay, and he turned away and continued going by her.
Gibson-Marshall stated that she proceeded to assist the youngster, rolling him over, only to discover that Tate Myre, 16, had been fatally shot in the back of the head. Gibson-Miller stated that she had known Myre since he was three years old because he came to school with his mother.
“It was crushing, and I had to help him, just to save him for his mom,” Gibson-Miller explained.
Gibson-Marshall stated that she immediately began providing emergency care to Myre, collecting his vitals and checking his pulse. She said Myre had a pulse when she discovered him and attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“There was a lot of blood.” “It was all over me,” said Gibson-Miller. “It took months, almost a year, for me to get the taste of Tate’s blood out of my mouth.”
Myre was removed from the building after Crumbley was apprehended. After completing her testimony, Gibson-Marshall sobbed as she hugged family members.
Teacher Testifies On Being Shot
Molly Darnell, an administrator at Oxford High School on the day of the sh00ting, was the first to deliver emotional testimony Thursday, recounting making eye contact with Crumbley moments before being shot.
Darnell testified that on the day of the shooting, she was attempting to apply a lock to the door of a classroom she uses as an office after a lockdown began when she made eye contact with Crumbley through the glass in the door. He then fired three shots in her direction.
As she jumped from the door, she was hit by one of the bullets, which went through her arm.
“I recall thinking to myself, ‘No orange tip.’ “I had previously heard that BB guns have an orange tip on them, so my first thought was that there was no orange tip, and that’s when I jumped to the side, to my right,” Darnell explained.
Darnell tried to barricade the door with a filing cabinet before learning she had been shot, but she said it was too heavy to lift.
“I got down on my hands and knees and crawled back and dropped that lock-in, and then I grabbed the rolling cabinet and shoved it against the door on the wall,” Darnell explained.
“I was still in shock that I’d been shot, but all I knew was that I was bleeding,” Darnell recalled.
Darnell texted her husband to tell him she loved him, told her daughter she was safe, and exchanged messages with other building personnel. Darnell stayed in her office until police arrived, leading her out of the premises.
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Tyler is a passionate journalist with a keen eye for detail and a deep love for uncovering the truth. With years of experience covering a wide range of topics, Tyler has a proven track record of delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles to readers everywhere. Whether it’s breaking news, in-depth investigations, or behind-the-scenes looks at the world of politics and entertainment, Tyler has a unique ability to bring a story to life and make it relevant to audiences everywhere. When he’s not writing, you can find Tyler exploring new cultures, trying new foods, and soaking up the beauty of the world around him.
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