Prosecutors said Tuesday that the 15-year-old accused of the fatal mass shooting at his high school in suburban Detroit in November should remain in an adult prison while he awaits trial.
Oakland County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Collins said during a hearing about the teen’s incarceration that he showed he could count, had a desire to remember his alleged crimes, and enjoyed the notoriety the case brought him, including emailing from the women.
“How do I get fan mail, how do I receive hate mail”? He said, according to Collins.
She argued in court that he had a “deeper and calculated mind than any other 15-year-old”.
The teen’s defense team has formally asked the court to move him from Oakland County Jail to Pontiac’s Children’s Village.
Collins said the teen had already killed four of his Oxford High School classmates on November 30, and that the teens in the juvenile home would be at risk “incompatible with the rehabilitation of those in the Children’s Village”.
“He enjoyed his dark side,” Collins said. “He is fascinated by violence.”
The teen’s defense team said he has not been in direct contact with anyone, except for his lawyer, since he was in prison, despite the possibility that psychological supervision is needed.
“The prison is not equipped to handle juveniles,” attorney Paulette Loften said during the hearing.
She said he was removed from “constant surveillance” in prison. His attorneys indicated in a lawsuit that they plan to pursue a defense of the insanity.
Loftin said that given the school’s lack of a previous criminal or disciplinary record, he should be allowed to await trial at the children’s home with defendants his age.
Loftin argued that since many of the people who email him are women, such communication could be better supervised if he was confined to the Children’s Village.
“These are emails from strangers from all over the world,” Loftin said. “In Children’s Village, we can control that connection.”
Loftin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday night.
Judge Kwame Rowe said he will make a decision in the coming days.
Suspect Ethan Crumble has pleaded not guilty to twenty charges, including murder. His parents were also imprisoned on four counts of manslaughter in the shooting. They pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
