Current:Home > reviewsMother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges -WealthMindset Learning
Mother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges
View
Date:2025-04-16 15:43:30
The mother of a 6-year-old boy accused of shooting and seriously wounding his first-grade teacher earlier this year in Virginia faces two new federal charges, according to court documents filed on Monday.
Deja Taylor is accused of unlawfully using a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm and making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. The new charges follow felony charges filed in April accusing Taylor of child neglect and endangerment.
Taylor "knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement to Winfree Firearms," a gun shop in Grafton, Va., from which she purchased a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, court documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia allege. The documents also allege that Taylor falsely claimed on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives application forms that she did not use marijuana despite unlawfully using the drug.
Abby Zwerner, a 25-year-old teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, was shot in the hand and chest by a student on Jan. 6 as she sat at a reading table in her classroom. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has had four surgeries since the shooting.
While the boy was not charged in connection with the shooting, a grand jury returned an indictment charging his mother with "felony child neglect and misdemeanor recklessly leaving a loaded firearm so as to endanger a child," Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn said in April. Taylor will return to court in August to face those charges, CBS affiliate WTVR reported.
The boy used his mother's gun, police said, which had been purchased legally.
Family members said the gun was secured. They also noted the 6-year-old boy suffers from an acute disability.
Zwerner in April filed a $40 million lawsuit, accusing school officials of gross negligence for allegedly ignoring multiple warnings that the boy had a gun and was in a "violent mood" on the day of the shooting.
S. DevS. Dev is a news editor for CBSNews.com.
veryGood! (85464)
Related
- Bodycam footage shows high
- The Third Rail of Climate Change: Climate Refugees
- Dispute over seats in Albuquerque movie theater leads to deadly shooting, fleeing filmgoers
- Going, Going … Gone: Greenland’s Melting Ice Sheet Passed a Point of No Return in the Early 2000s
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- In New York City, ‘Managed Retreat’ Has Become a Grim Reality
- Perry’s Grid Study Calls for Easing Pollution Rules on Power Plants
- Gender-affirming care for trans youth: Separating medical facts from misinformation
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly Prove Their Twin Flame Is Burning Bright During London Outing
Ranking
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- US Declares Greenhouse Gases a Danger to Public Health and Welfare
- Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and More Famous Dads Who Had Kids Later in Life
- J. Crew's Extra 50% Off Sale Has a $228 Dress for $52 & More Jaw-Dropping Deals
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Ports Go Electric in Drive to Decarbonize and Cut Pollution
- Jenna Dewan Pens Sweet Message to Her and Channing Tatum's Fierce Daughter Everly on 10th Birthday
- The Fires May be in California, but the Smoke, and its Health Effects, Travel Across the Country
Recommendation
Small twin
Solar Energy Boom Sets New Records, Shattering Expectations
Is a Conservative Climate Movement Heating Up?
American Climate Video: A Pastor Taught His Church to See a Blessing in the Devastation of Hurricane Michael
Average rate on 30
Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix & Raquel Leviss Come Face-to-Face for First Time Since Scandoval
Feeding 9 Billion People
Delta plane makes smooth emergency landing in Charlotte