{"id":26586,"date":"2023-11-16T05:01:48","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T10:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=26586"},"modified":"2023-11-16T05:01:48","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T10:01:48","slug":"virginia-mother-of-child-who-shot-teacher-sentenced-to-21-months-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/11\/16\/virginia-mother-of-child-who-shot-teacher-sentenced-to-21-months-in-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia mother of child who shot teacher sentenced to 21 months in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

The mother of a six-year-old boy who shot his teacher in the US state of Virginia has been sentenced to 21 months in prison on a drug charge linked to the gun used in the attack.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Deja Taylor, 26, pleaded guilty in June to using cannabis while owning a firearm. She still faces sentencing on a state charge of felony child neglect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Her son brought the gun to school on 6 January in Newport News and shot teacher Abby Zwerner, injuring her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Ms Zwerner is suing for $40m (\u00a332m).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

After the shooting, investigators found roughly 1oz (28g) of cannabis in Taylor’s home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

While the drug is legal in many states, including Virginia, it is illegal to own a gun and be an active drug user.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Taylor reportedly wiped away tears in court as Judge Mark Davis handed down the full term requested by prosecutors on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

“This case cries out for imprisonment,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Abigail<\/picture><\/span><\/div>
\n
The lawsuit cites warning signs from the six-year-old boy school officials ignored (Image: Abigail Zwerner\/Facebook)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

One of Taylor’s attorneys read a brief statement from their client, in which she said she would feel remorse “for the rest of my life”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Ms Zwerner read aloud a victim-impact statement at the hearing, talking about the physical and emotional toll the shooting had taken on her, according to\u00a0the Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0news agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I have nightmares of gore, blood and death – always involving a firearm,” she told the court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

She added that she had to have five surgeries to regain motion in her left hand and has suffered both emotionally and financially since the incident.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

“I feel as if I’ve lost my purpose – I loved children,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “I contend daily with deep emotional scars.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Taylor faces a separate hearing in December on the child neglect charge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

In June, she negotiated a guilty plea in a federal court in Newport News, a military shipbuilding city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Taylor was convicted on two counts: using marijuana while owning a gun and lying about her drug use on a federal form.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Her attorneys had asked for home confinement and probation. They have argued that Taylor needs therapy for mental health issues, including schizoaffective disorder, and treatment for marijuana addiction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Ms Zwerner, who was shot in the hand and upper chest and spent two weeks in hospital, has filed a lawsuit against the Virginia school board.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

She said Richneck Elementary School was aware of the child’s “history of random violence”, which she alleged was repeatedly ignored.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Earlier this month the school board lost a bid to dismiss the lawsuit, where they argued that her injuries fell exclusively under workers’ compensation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The child, now aged seven, told police he obtained the firearm by mounting a drawer to reach his mom’s handbag on top of a dresser, where the handgun was kept.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Investigators also said they found evidence of frequent drug use in her text messages and paraphernalia around Taylor’s home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The federal charge of using drugs while owning a firearm\u00a0is relatively rare<\/a>\u00a0and has faced multiple court challenges for infringing upon constitutional rights to gun ownership.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has been charged with violating the same law.<\/p>\n

Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mother of a six-year-old boy who shot his teacher in the US state of Virginia has been sentenced to 21 months in prison on a drug charge linked to the gun used in the […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[9055,9054,2317,6215,309],"class_list":{"0":"post-26586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-usa","9":"tag-newport-news","10":"tag-richneck-elementary-school","11":"tag-school-shooting","12":"tag-us-gun-violence","13":"tag-virginia","14":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26586"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26589,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26586\/revisions\/26589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}