Mother of 6-year-old who shot his teacher surrenders to police
The mother of a six-year-old child who shot his teacher was arrested on Thursday after surrendering to police.
Deja Taylor, 25, was charged with felony child neglect and recklessly leaving a loaded handgun that endangers a child.
She was released after paying a $5,000 bond, and is expected to appear in court again on Friday for a status hearing, her attorney confirmed.
On January 6, Taylor’s 6-year-old son took her loaded 9mm handgun and placed it in his backpack. He then used the gun to fire a single round at his first grade teacher, Abby Zwerner.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew called the shooting was ‘intentional.’ He also confirmed that the firearm used was purchased by Taylor, who bought it legally in York County, Virginia.
Prosecutors later announced they would not press charges against the child, as he was too young to understand the legal system.
After the shooting, the child’s parents made few statements to the press. They said their son suffered from an ‘acute disability’ which required one parent or an aide to accompany him to classes each day, but nobody was present on the Friday of the shooting.
They also claimed the gun he accessed was ‘secured,’ but gave no indication how he got ahold of it.
‘Our family has always been committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children. The firearm our son accessed was secured,’ their statement read.
Zwerner later filed a $40million lawsuit against Newport News Public Schools administrators, which revealed additional details about the incident.
The suit claims that the boy, referred to as John Doe, had a ‘history of random violence’ against both students and other teachers, but his parents refused let the school place him in a special education class for students with behavioral issues.
The suit also revealed he was removed from Richneck Elementary School for the second half of his kindergarten year after he ‘strangled and choked’ his teacher.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn said he petitioned a judge to empanel a special grand jury to investigate if any of the school administrators at Richneck should face any criminal charges as well.
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