Scant to no contact between Michigan school shooting suspect, parents, attorney says

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Michigan shooter's attorney claims shooting is an 'isolated incident'

Michigan attorney Paulette Michel Loftin discusses the homicide case on 'The Story.'

The court-appointed defense attorney for Oxford, Mich., school shooting suspect Ethan Robert Crumbley told Fox News on Thursday that there has been little to no contact between their camp and the teenager's parents, who have separate attorneys and are being charged with multiple counts of manslaughter themselves.

James and Jennifer Crumbley retained their own counsel while Paulette Michel Loftin was appointed to represent their son.

James and Jennifer Crumbley appear before an Oakland County court in Michigan on Dec. 14, 2021. (Fox News' Audrey Conklin) (Fox News Digital)

Loftin had previously called Ethan Crumbley's alleged role in the shooting an "insolated incident" and tried to clarify her remarks with host Martha MacCallum. She told "The Story" her client was never in trouble at school or with the law before his arrest for the Nov. 30 school shooting and that he is a juvenile being housed among adults.

"The court rule is very specific what to look at when you’re housing a juvenile," she said. "This is not someone that was on anyone’s radar. He had never been in trouble before, never suspended, never expelled, never had problems: No prior suspensions for attacking someone.

"So when I said isolated incident, we’re looking at this one incident. I agree it’s horrific and tragic but looking at one incident instead of a pattern of behavior."

Defense attorney Paulette Michel Loftin is shown in this Fox News screenshot.

MacCallum asked Loftin if reports there is limited contact between the parties are true.

"That is correct. The case is different than a normal case where there are multiple defendants that are charged," she said. "In this case, Ethan is charged under one case number and his parents are charged under another case number."

"They have different judges. I cannot speak as to why the prosecutor’s office decided to do it that way but makes this case extremely different than other cases where you would normally see multiple people changed as co-defendants," Loftin continued. "So it’s very strange because of that."

"I wouldn’t say that I would not have any contact with the Crumbley [parents]’s attorney, but because the cases are separate, my focus is solely on Ethan."

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Loftin added that with Ethan's parents also currently incarcerated on a combined $1 million bail, a legal guardian has been appointed with custody over him.

In a normal case involving a juvenile suspect, the parents are often consulted, the attorney told Fox News. The installation of a guardian and separate case against the parents makes this case unique, she said.