Topline
The mother of a six-year-old boy who shot his teacher in January at a Virginia elementary school using a gun she legally purchased was charged Monday with felony child neglect, in a rare instance of a parent being prosecuted for a school shooting—weeks after the parents of a Michigan school shooter were ordered to stand trial.
Children arrive at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, on January 30, 2023. (Photo … [+]
Key Facts
A Newport News, Virginia, grand jury returned the felony charge against 25-year-old Deja Taylor, along with a misdemeanor charge of recklessly leaving a loaded firearm so as to endanger a child.
Authorities decided against charging the six-year-old shortly after the shooting, though his wounded teacher—Abigail Zwerner—received “life-threatening” injuries and said the shooting was intentional.
Newport News prosecutors also said Monday they’ve requested a special grand jury convene to investigate “security issues that may have contributed to this shooting.”
Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit last week against Richneck Elementary School school leaders, saying they ignored threats from the boy that he was going to shoot his teacher with a gun he brought to school in his backpack.
Taylor’s attorney, James Ellenson, did not opine on the charges in a statement to Forbes, saying, “My client will be turning herself in later this week”—but he previously told the Washington Post the gun was safely locked and placed at the top of Taylor’s closet.
Crucial Quote
“If a Special Grand Jury determines that additional persons are criminally responsible under the law, it can return additional indictments,” prosecutors said.
Key Background
The bizarre shooting has served as one of the macabre focal points of a historic stretch of gun violence in the U.S., which has brought renewed calls for Congress to enact tighter gun control measures—but the Republican-controlled House is not expected to take up legislation on the matter. There have also been greater calls for action against the parents of school shootings suspects, and Taylor’s indictment is the latest indication the tide might be turning in that regard, though charges remain rare. Monday’s announcement from Virginia prosecutors came just weeks after a Michigan appeals court ruled the parents of a teenager who killed four students at a Detroit-area high school in 2021 can stand trial for manslaughter. A Washington Post analysis of school shootings between 1999 and 2018 found at least 84 cases of the shooter getting a gun from their home or a close relative, but only four adults were convicted in that stretch for their gun being used in a school shooting.
Tangent
Four people were killed in a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday morning, while the shooter also died at the scene. The event was the 146th mass shooting in the U.S. this year—by far the earliest in a year such a number has been reached, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as events with four or more injuries or deaths not including the shooter.
Further Reading
Va. teacher files lawsuit over her shooting by 6-year-old student (Washington Post)
Gun used by 6-year-old to shoot teacher was stored with lock, family attorney says (Washington Post)
Michigan School Shooter’s Parents Will Face Manslaughter Trial, Court Says (Forbes)
Louisville Shooting: 4 Killed In Kentucky Bank Shooting (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/04/10/mother-charged-after-6-year-old-son-shoots-teacher/