The Virginia mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in class in January was sentenced Friday to five years in prison with three years suspended.
Deja Taylor will also serve two years of supervised probation that must include substance abuse treatment, parenting classes, and mental health treatment.
Taylor pleaded guilty in August to neglect and had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges of illegally obtaining and possessing a firearm and making a false statement while purchasing a firearm, as CrimeOnline reported.
She was sentenced to 21 months in prison on the federal charges, according to the Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, which said that the state and federal sentences will be served consecutively.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office said the investigation into the January 6 shooting at Richneck Elementary School is ongoing.
The boy, now 7, shot teacher Abigail Zwerner with his mother’s gun, critically wounding her. Zwerner managed to get her entire class out of the classroom after the shooting, before collapsing in the school office. She has since filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school board and officials for negligence.
Superintendent George Parker III previously said that “at least one administrator” was aware of a possible weapon in the boy’s possession prior to the shooting. On the day of the shooting, the boy reportedly arrived at school late, and his backpack was inspected in the front office but no gun was found. A teacher, however, said the gun could be in the child’s pocket, which was not checked.
Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano, said that at least three teachers spoke with administrators about the boy’s behavior on the day of the shooting, including Zwerner, who reportedly told administrators he had threatened to beat up a classmate.
Another teacher told officials that the boy had brandished a gun at recess and threatened to shoot a classmate if he told. Toscano said that another teacher asked to search the boy, but administrators nixed the idea because they wanted to “wait [out] the situation out because the school day was almost over.”
The school tried to block Zwerner’s lawsuit and limit it to worker’s compensation damages, but a judge ruled in November that it could go forward, NBC News reported.
“The danger of being shot by a student is not one that is peculiar or unique to the job of a first-grade teacher,” Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hoffman said in his ruling.
The school board plans to appeal.
The boy is now reportedly in the custody of his great-grandfather, who said he was “progressing” in light of the shooting.
He was not charged in the shooting because law enforcement couldn’t figure out a way to charge and hold a perpetrator so young.
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[Featured image: Abigail Zwerner/GoFundMe]
