Opening arguments are set to begin in the manslaughter trial of Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of the student who carried out a mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021. Four students died in the shooting, and six others, along with a teacher, were injured. Jennifer Crumbley and her husband are the first parents to be charged in a US mass school shooting. The trial comes after their son, Ethan Crumbley, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December for the shooting.

The trial is being closely watched, and jury selection concluded on Wednesday, with a 17-person jury consisting of 10 women and seven men. Opening statements are scheduled to begin on Thursday morning in an Oakland County court. The prosecution has accused the parents of buying the gun used in the shooting and failing to provide their son with the necessary mental health support.

Jennifer Crumbley had made several requests leading up to her trial, including a request for a separate trial from her husband, which was granted. James Crumbley's trial is set to begin on March 5. Jennifer also requested that three eyewitnesses be excluded from her trial, claiming it would be irrelevant to the charges. The request was partly denied, with two witnesses allowed to testify. These witnesses include a teacher who made eye contact with Jennifer Crumbley's son before he fired shots and the assistant principal at the high school.

Additionally, Crumbley and her attorneys requested that video footage from the day of the shooting not be shown during the trial. However, the request was denied, with the judge ruling that the video is relevant to the trial as it shows the shooter, the deaths of four students, and the gun used. The video does not contain audio, including screaming or gunfire noises.

Another request from Crumbley's attorneys was to exclude "bird evidence," which relates to her son's alleged torture and killing of birds. The defense argued that the evidence would inflame the passions of the jury, but the judge agreed to exclude it from the trial.

The case has raised important questions about parental responsibility in mass school shootings. While Jennifer Crumbley is not accused of knowing about her son's plans, prosecutors argue that she and her husband were grossly negligent in providing their son with access to a gun and ignoring signs of his mental health struggles.

The trial will shed light on the tragic events that unfolded at Oxford High School and determine the extent of the parents' accountability in the mass shooting. The outcome of the trial could have significant implications for future cases involving parental responsibility in school shootings.