A Virginia grand jury on Monday indicted the mother of a six-year-old who shot an elementary school teacher in Newport News in January, charging her with crimes related to felony child neglect and firearms possession.
On 6 January, 25-year-old teacher Abigail Zwerner was badly wounded by a first-grade student in her classroom at Richneck elementary school – with the incident occurring after school officials received warnings that the boy had a gun at school and was in a “violent mood”.
The child’s mother, Deja Taylor, was charged with felony child neglect and the misdemeanor of recklessly leaving a loaded firearm so as to endanger a child, the Newport News prosecutor, Howard Gwynn, said in a statement.
“Every criminal case is unique in its facts, and these facts support these charges, but our investigation into the shooting continues,” Gwynn said.
Zwerner last week filed a $40m negligence lawsuit against school district officials.
The lawsuit named as defendants the Newport News school board, the former superintendent George Parker III, the ex-Richneck elementary school principal Briana Foster Newton and the former assistant principal Ebony Parker.
The shooting happened as Zwerner was sitting at a reading table when she was shot in the hand and chest.
She led her students to safety before being taken to hospital, where she stayed for two weeks and through four surgical procedures.
Prosecutors had said the boy, who has not been publicly identified, would not face criminal charges.
George Parker III, the superintendent, was fired after the shooting. Ebony Parker, the assistant principal, resigned.
An attorney for the boy’s parents said they were “committed to responsible gun ownership and keeping firearms out of the reach of children” and had tried to do so with the firearm concerned, which belonged to the boy’s mother.
The family also said the boy has a severe disability and has received mental health treatment.
In the lawsuit, attorneys for Zwerner say the defendants knew the boy “had a history of random violence” at school and at home.
