Everything in young Ethan Crumbley’s life suggests he is a teen tormented by mental illness, and nowhere is that made more clear than in this story by The Daily Beast’s AJ McDougall.

This teen boy’s parents were so self-absorbed he really seemed like little more than a blip on their radar. On the day when 15-year-old Ethan allegedly carried out the rampage that ended the lives of four fellow students, wounded six others and 47-year-old teacher, at Oxford High School in Michigan, his parents had been asked to take him home but purportedly refused to do so.

On that very same day, his mother Jennifer Crumbley texted “Don’t do it,” and you might think she was referring to the sho*tings, but you’d be wrong. Instead, attorneys for Jennifer and Jason Crumbley say she was telling her son not to commit suicide. Now, excuse me, but that’s the kind of tone you use when you’re discussing paint swatches, not when your son is talking about suicide.

Prosecutors, in court filings issued Thursday, say the Crumbleys ignored “troubling” red flags from Ethan — the teenager’s only friend had moved away in October and his dog died in November. Some people may think these are ordinary parts of life we have to deal with, but for someone as disturbed as this boy is, these things are monumental.

And Jennifer Crumbley’s passive response was a tiny drop in a giant bucket of alleged parental neglect, according to prosecutors. The Crumbleys purportedly ignored instances of animal tort*re and gory, blood-filled sketches.

“Instead, they spent hours with their cherished horses — and in Jennifer’s case — doggedly pursued an extramarital affair,” McDougall writes.

“The defendants had something long before Nov. 30 (six months prior to the shooting) that their son’s only friend moved at the end October, that the family dog had died, that their son was sadder than usual, and that he was sending his mother disturbing texts about his state of mind,” according to one filing per The Detroit Free Press. “Instead of paying attention to their son and getting him help, they bought him a gun.”

Shades of Adam Lanza, anyone?

Now Ethan’s parents are facing charges of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, that, according to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, are “unprecedented” in the state. They face a possible 15 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors say that the Crumbleys “knew their son was depressed, that he was fascinated with guns… that he was researching ammunition while at a school and that he was seen watching violent videos of shootings that morning.” And yet they still bought him a 9mm Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol and kept it in an unlocked armoire.

Unf*cking believable.

“The Crumbleys were present at the high school on the morning of the shooting, called in after a teacher spotted Ethan’s ‘concerning drawings and written statements,’ including phrases like: ‘the thoughts won’t stop. Help me,’ ‘bloody everywhere,’ and ‘my life useless.’ Asked to take their son home for the day, the Crumbleys reportedly refused and left, according to a letter by the Oxford Community Schools Superintendent,” McDougall writes.

But there were additional warning signs as well.

“In her Thursday filing, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald outlined how Ethan Crumbley ‘was tort*ring animals (and) even kept a baby bird’s head in a jar on his bedroom floor, which he later took and placed in a school bathroom.’ But, she continued, ‘the parents were focusing on their issues, things like extramarital affairs, financial issues and substance abuse.’ The couple also spent up to three hours a night, three or four times a week, caring for their horses at a nearby barn, McDonald wrote.”

Apparently, according to McDonald in her filing, Jennifer Crumbley told her boyfriend on that very day that the alleged murder weapon was in her car. After news of the shooting broke and after Jennifer’s soulless “don’t do it text,” it was reported that James Crumbley called 911 to report the gun was missing and his son might be the alleged gunman.

Ethan Crumbley has been charged with 24 felonies, including four counts of murder and one count of terrorism. He is pleading not guilty to all charges and will be tried as an adult. If convicted he faces the very real possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

I’m not in any way condoning the attrocities this young man allegedly committed. I just have to wonder what would have transpired if his parents had paid attention and brought him the help he needed. This is a tragic, horrible situation that didn’t need to happen. And buying a gun in situations like this should never, EVER be the answer.

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