The mom of a 6-year-old who shot his first-grade trainer in a Virginia classroom was sentenced on Friday to 2 years in jail after pleading guilty in August to a cost of felony baby neglect.
The sentencing of the mom, Deja Taylor, is the newest growth in a case that drew nationwide consideration amid charged debates over weapons and faculty security. The January shooting in a first-grade classroom at Richneck Elementary College in Newport Information shocked the group due to the kid’s age and raised questions in regards to the college’s response and the boy’s entry to the weapon.
Ms. Taylor’s lawyer, James S. Ellenson, had beforehand mentioned that prosecutors had agreed to hunt solely six months of imprisonment, given Ms. Taylor’s lack of legal historical past earlier than this episode. He known as the choose’s sentencing determination “excessive and harsh.”
The choose, Christopher R. Papile, mentioned on Friday that Ms. Taylor had abdicated her obligations as a mum or dad, and that the outcomes had been “egregious,” The Daily Press reported.
He added that the cost of neglect was extra critical than the federal costs that Ms. Taylor has already confronted. Final month, she was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison after pleading responsible to utilizing marijuana whereas proudly owning a firearm and making false statements about drug use. The 2 sentences will likely be served consecutively.
“She’s just very upset and sad,” Mr. Ellenson mentioned of the brand new sentence. He added that the kid, who was not charged, is within the custody of his great-grandfather.
The trainer who was shot, Abigail Zwerner, had been in the midst of a routine lesson when, the police mentioned, the boy pulled out the gun, aimed it at her and fired. A single bullet passed through her hand and struck her chest; she was significantly injured however survived. She has since filed a lawsuit in search of $40 million in damages from college officers, accusing them of gross negligence.
Days after the capturing, a spokeswoman for the Newport Information public college district confirmed that a staff member had searched the child’s backpack earlier than the capturing came about “after it was reported that the student may have a weapon.” No weapon was discovered. Later that month, the college board voted to terminate the contract of the district’s superintendent, George Parker III.
Virginia regulation prohibits leaving a loaded gun the place it’s accessible to kids underneath 14, however there may be not a broad regulation that requires that every one weapons be safely saved in properties.
The boy’s household mentioned in a January assertion that the kid had an “acute disability” and had beforehand been accompanied to high school every day by his mom or father. The week of the capturing, the assertion mentioned, was the primary time {that a} mum or dad had not been in school with him.
“We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives,” the household assertion mentioned.
