Mother of 6-Year-Old Who Shot Teacher in Virginia Sentenced to Prison

NEWPORT NEWS, Virg. — The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the educator.

Background

Friday’s sentencing was the second time Deja Taylor was held accountable for the classroom shooting, which stunned the nation and shook the military shipbuilding city of Newport News.

Taylor was sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun, which is illegal under U.S. law. The combination of her state and federal sentences amounts to a total punishment of nearly four years behind bars.

The Shooting Incident

Taylor’s son told authorities he got his mother’s 9mm handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom’s purse. He concealed the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in front of her first-grade class.

This is a developing story. Please come back for more updates.

Source: The Associated Press