Oakland County prosecutor refers Oxford High School case to Michigan attorney general for state-led probe

DETROIT — Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald has formally referred the 2021 Oxford High School shooting to the Michigan Attorney General's Office for investigation.

McDonald wrote a referral letter on Friday to Attorney General Dana Nessel and vowed to fully cooperate with any investigation Nessel's office conducts, as well as provide access to all files and personnel with relevant information available to state investigators.

The referral comes five days after Oxford families demanded a state-led probe into the mass shooting at the high school that killed four students and injured seven others.

It also comes after The News reported on Nov. 18 that McDonald issued a memo to Oxford families that the Michigan Attorney General's Office had the authority to investigate the actions of Oxford school district employees "regardless of invitation" from its school board.

Nessel said she would need a referral to take on the case, which so far has resulted in criminal charges against the student killer and his parents.

Initially, McDonald's office said it was not "aware of any mechanism for our office to refer a matter to the Attorney General’s office when it has not been presented to our office." On Wednesday, McDonald said she would provide Nessel's office with the proper documents to allow her to launch a state-level investigation.

McDonald's letter Friday to the Attorney General's Office said she supports the investigation being called for by families of the victims to "answer questions that remain unanswered and to gather data and information that can be used to save future lives." McDonald also wrote that she believes such an investigation "will benefit our entire state, particularly our schools and our students."

Nessel's office was not immediately available for comment on Monday. On Thursday, Nessel's spokeswoman Kimberly Bush said her office is working on a timeline with Oakland County officials to move forward and is trying to secure resources from the state for the probe.

Bush said on Thursday, the Attorney General's Office was in "discussions with the legislature and governor’s office to ensure the office has adequate resources for a comprehensive, timely review of the Oxford matter, and we look forward to working with the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and Oakland County Sheriff’s Department on a timeline for them to provide all the necessary materials relevant to this review."

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office has said it stands ready to participate in a comprehensive review of the violent gun attack.

"If your office desires to do a comprehensive review, which we have already joined the families in supporting, we will make our personnel available to you, as well as our investigative report," Lt. Tim Willis said in a Tuesday letter to Nessel and shared with The Detroit News.

Nessel's office has argued in part it could not investigate the Oxford shooting because the district's school board refused her request to do so. Nessel's department had maintained that her office needed the permission of the Oxford school board unless there was probable cause to believe a crime was committed.

Oxford families have called for a comprehensive examination of possible criminal conduct by school staff and failed policies that did not prevent the attack. They are demanding accountability, including criminal culpability of school employees.

Steve St. Juliana, whose daughter Hana was killed in the attack, said on Monday he and the families are trying to meet with Nessel's staff to ask them to focus on what is really needed in the investigation.

"We are trying to get her to finish the investigation — not start a new one, to focus on what's really needed, to fill in the missing gaps," St. Juliana said. "Eighty percent of the work is done. The shooter and his parents are done."

St. Juliana said the state-level probe needs to focus on the role of school officials, school staff and others who were in contact with the killer before the attack. It also needs to gather information on failed policies within public schools to prevent future attacks, he said.

"Do the investigation and they can make their decision whether charges appropriate or not. Stop talking about the charges," St. Juliana said.

McDonald won criminal prosecutions for the Oxford High School killer and his parents but has not charged any school employees, citing insufficient evidence. She also provided two school employees with proffer agreements that their statements wouldn't be used to criminally charge them.

McDonald's office issued first-degree murder and terrorism charges for school shooter Ethan Crumbley based on an investigation by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office on the day of the attack. He is serving a life sentence in prison, but attorneys have appealed his pleading.

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