CHILD NEGLECT

Mom of 6-Year-Old Who Shot His Teacher Gets 2 Years in Prison

Deja Taylor is already serving time for using marijuana while owning a gun.

The mom of the 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect, according to the NBC News. Deja Taylor is already serving almost two years behind bars on charges related to using marijuana while owning a gun. During the investigation, Taylor’s son told law enforcement that he obtained his mom’s 9mm handgun by climbing up to her purse on top of a dresser. He hid the firearm in his backpack before shooting his first-grade teacher, Abby Zwerner, hitting her left hand and upper left chest, but the Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office stated in March that the boy would not face charges given his age. Taylor told authorities that she had a trigger lock on her gun that would prevent it from being fired, but investigators claimed they didn’t discover one. Zwerner, 26, has sued the public school system for $40 million, accusing officials of ignoring several signs that the boy had a gun.