Photo: Getty Images
The Virginia mother of the child who shot his elementary school teacher earlier this year was sentenced to two years in prison on a state felony child neglect charge, the Associated Press reports.
Deja Taylor, 26, was facing up to five years in prison, but accepted a plea deal in order to drop a misdemeanor charge of reckless storage of a firearm. Taylor was previously sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun and will be incarcerated for a total four years for both sentences.
The shooting incident took place at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News on January 6. First-grade teacher Abby Zwerner was shot by Taylor's son with a 9mm handgun while she sat at a reading table, officials confirmed. Zwerner was hospitalized for nearly two weeks and underwent multiple surgeries after she was struck by a bullet in her hand and chest.
In January, former schools superintendent George Parker III told parents that at least one school official was notified of the Richneck Elementary first grader possibly having a 9mm handgun in his possession ahead of the shooting.
“At least one administrator was notified of a possible weapon in the timeline that we’re reviewing and was aware that that student had, there was a potential that there was a weapon on campus,” the then-superintendent told parents in a clip of the meeting broadcast by WAVY-TV, which gained access from a parent.
A lawsuit filed by Zwerner claims the 6-year-old, who was identified as John Doe, had shown examples of troubling behavior in the past, having strangled and choked a teacher, as well as pulling up the dress and "inappropriately" touch a female student who fell on the playground, during the previous school year. The boy initially transferred out of Richneck and was placed in a different school within the Newport News district before being allowed to transfer back ahead of the 2022-23 school year and placed on a modified schedule after "chasing students around the playground with a belt in an effort to whip them with it, as well as cursing at staff and teachers," the complaint states.
“At least one administrator was notified of a possible weapon in the timeline that we’re reviewing and was aware that that student had, there was a potential that there was a weapon on campus,” the then-superintendent told parents in a clip of the meeting broadcast by WAVY-TV, which gained access from a parent.