What is Deja Taylor's prison sentence? Mother of 6-year-old boy who shot Virginia teacher Abby Zwerner pleads guilty to child neglect
NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA: Deja Taylor, the mother of a six-year-old who shot his teacher Abby Zwerner in a Virginia school, admitted to felony child neglect on Tuesday, August 15.
The shooting happened on January 6 at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, a city near the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.
What is Deja Taylor's prison sentence?
Deja Taylor, the mother of the six-year-old who shot Zwerner's hand and chest could face up to six months in prison, according to the state sentencing guidelines, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors dropped another charge of reckless storage of a firearm as part of the plea deal. The boy was not charged in the case.
Taylor also pleaded guilty in June to a federal charge of using marijuana while having a gun, which is illegal. She could get 18 to 24 months in prison for the charge. She will be sentenced in October for both charges.
How was Abby Zwerner shot?
Abby Zwerner was sitting at a reading table when the six-year-old pulled a 9mm firearm out of his jacket's pocket, as per details from recently released documents.
Zwerner asked the boy, "What are you doing with that?" before he shot her twice. In an interview in the Washington Post, Amy Korvac, a reading specialist at the school said she heard the gunshots and restrained the student until police arrived.
The boy told the reading specialist, “I shot that b***h dead,” and “I got my mom’s gun last night.” He had brought the gun to school in his backpack with shark images on it.
Abby Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit in April
Abby Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News School District and Richneck Elementary officials claiming they ignored multiple warnings about the student's behaviour as well as concerns that he may have a gun.
Taylor had thought the gun was in her purse with a trigger lock on it. She said she kept the key under her mattress.
But, investigators said they did not find any trigger lock when they searched her home according to search warrants reported by the publication.
Deja Taylor's apology to Abby Zwerner
Taylor’s lawyer James Ellenson, in April, said she had some “mitigating circumstances” such as miscarriages and postpartum depression before the shooting. Taylor also apologized to Zwerner on ABC’s 'Good Morning America' in May.
Taylor said her son's actions could be linked to ADHD diagnosis. "I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him because he can't take responsibility," she told the station in May.
Her son was on a care plan that required a family member to be with him in class every day, she revealed.
The week of the shooting was the first time he was alone in class because he had started medication and was doing well academically. “I just truly would like to apologize,” Taylor said on the show.
