Attorneys ask for more time for deposits in Oxford shooting lawsuit

The attorney for several Oxford High School families who are suing the district for gross negligence in relation to a deadly school shooting in 2021 have asked an Oakland County judge for more time to take deposits from several more people, including the former and current Oxford Community Schools superintendents.

The families of Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, Keegan Gregory, Sophia and Grace Kempen and Ashlynne Sutton are suing the district. Tates, 16; Justin, 17; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14, was shot and killed by then-15-year-old Ethan Crumbley on Nov. 30, 2021. Six students and a teacher were wounded.

Attorney Jeffrey Stewart wrote in a motion to extend discovery that attorneys have taken 14 depositions and exchanged written discoveries, but several critical depositions remain, including those of former superintendent Timothy Throne and Throne’s successor, Kenneth Weaver, who was the deputy superintendent at the time of the shooting.

Attorney Ven Johnson announced a lawsuit on behalf of Oxford High School shooting victims against Oxford High School employees, Ethan Crumbley and his parents as Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre, and his wife Sheri Myre look on during a news conference in Southfield on Thursday, January 27, 2022.

Weaver allegedly “frustrated efforts to implement a proper threat assessment system in the district,” Stewart wrote in motion. Weaver’s deposition was scheduled, but he said he was too sick to testify at this time, according to the motion. The district said Weaver is willing to testify, but a date hasn’t been determined yet, Stewart wrote.

The deposition of Kimberly Potts, a former Oakland County sheriff’s deputy who allegedly did not stop the shooter in the bathroom, has also been adjourned at least twice at the defendant’s request, Stewart wrote. The deposition for Thomas Donnelly, the former school board president who Stewart said may have pertinent information about what the district did and did not do, was rescheduled to Jan. 6 at the earliest.