Mother of 6-year-old who shot teacher pleads guilty to child neglect

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The mother of a 6-year-old Virginia boy who earlier this year shot and injured his teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of felony child neglect, according to multiple reports.

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Prosecutors dropped a misdemeanor charge against Deja Taylor as part of the plea deal and agreed not to seek a sentence longer than state sentencing guidelines, which is expected to be no more than six months, The Associated Press and The Virginian-Pilot reported. A judge will ultimately determine the length of Taylor’s sentence at a hearing scheduled for Oct. 27.

Authorities said Taylor’s son shot Abigail Zwerner as she was teaching her class at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6. The single shot went through Zwerner’s hand and into her chest.

Taylor’s attorney, James Ellenson, told reporters on Tuesday that the case was “very emotional” for his client, the Pilot reported.

“It’s very upsetting to everybody,” he said, adding, “She feels very responsible. She feels very bad.”

In court on Tuesday, prosecutor Joshua Jenkins said that Taylor’s son told authorities he got the gun after he climbed a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the gun was in his mother’s purse, the AP reported.

In records filed in court, authorities said Taylor believed her gun was secured with a trigger lock, although investigators did not find a gun safe or trigger lock during any of their searches, according to the AP.

The boy later told investigators that he took his mother’s gun because, “I needed to shoot my teacher,” WVEC reported.

Earlier, authorities said Child Protective Services learned that the boy had taken his mother’s keys from out of her purse and recommended that she keep the keys in a lockbox, according to the news station. They also learned the child had played with his mother’s gun at least once before at his grandmother’s house, WVEC reported.

The plea entered Tuesday came two months after Taylor pleaded guilty to a pair of federal charges: having a firearm while also possessing marijuana and making a false statement on a form to purchase the firearm. She is expected to be sentenced on those charges on Oct. 18, WTKR reported.