US: Mother of six-year-old who shot teacher charged with child neglect
Richneck Elementary School
A grand jury in the US state of Virginia indicted the mother of a six-year-old boy, on Monday (April 10) after he shot his teacher, earlier this year. The incident took place, in Januarywhen a boy shot his elementary school teacher in the city of Newport News, United States. After months,his mother, Deja Taylor has been charged withchild neglect and one count of a firearm-related offence, said the office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
This also comes a month after Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn had said that the child will not be criminally charged. Meanwhile, his 25-year-old mother was indicted by a grand jury and was charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanour charge of endangering a child by reckless storage of a firearm, said Gwynn, in a statement.
Taylor’s son had shot Abigail Zwerner, a 25-year-old teacher, who earlier this month also filed a $40 million negligence lawsuit against the school authorities following the incident at Richneck Elementary School. Zwerner who was shot on January 6 was later taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to her hand and chest, as per media reports citing officials.
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According to the statement, the indictment, on Monday, comes after a “thorough investigation” from the police and the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. “Every criminal case is unique in its facts, and these facts support these charges, but our investigation into the shooting continues,” said Gwynn. The prosecutor has also said that the grand jury would continue to investigate and consider if additional charges are warranted in this case.
Meanwhile, one of the attorneys for the family, James Ellenson in a statement said that Taylor “will be turning herself in later this week,” reported CNN. He also reportedly declined to further comment on the indictment.
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Last week, Ellenson also said that the allegations in the lawsuit against the child and the family “should be taken with a large grain of salt.” He added, “We of course continue to pray for Ms. Zwerner’s complete recovery.” This came after the 25-year-old teacher had filed the lawsuit which sought $40 million in compensatory damages. She alleged that the school staff and officials were aware of the student’s “history of random violence.”
The lawsuit also accuses the then-assistant principal of overlooking the concerns raised by several teachers and staff members which also included warnings over the six-year-old’s possible possession of a firearm and did not act proactively. Diane Toscano, an attorney for Zwerner, reacting to the indictment said there were “failures in accountability at multiple levels” that led to the shooting.
“Today’s announcement addresses but one of those failures,” said Toscano, in a statement. Notably, the six-year-old, during the first half of the school year, was required to be accompanied by a parent “because of his violent tendencies,” as per media reports citing court documents. However, on the day that the incident occurred, the school had allowed him to remain “unaccompanied without a one-on-one companion”.
(With inputs from agencies)
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