Current:Home > InvestMother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges -DollarDynamic
Mother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges
View
Date:2025-04-13 00:38:54
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! (512)
Related
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- Current COVID response falling behind, Trump's former health adviser says
- 11 taken to hospital as Delta jetliner hits turbulence near Atlanta airport
- Judge sets start date of March 4 for Trump's federal election interference trial
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Ambulance rides can be costly — and consumers aren't protected from surprise bills
- Our Place Sale: Save Up to 26% On the Cult Fave Cookware Brand
- Is your ZIP code on the hottest list for 2023? Here's which cities made the top 10.
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- 'Kind of used to it:' Not everyone chooses to flee possible monster Hurricane Idalia
Ranking
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Colts unable to find trade partner for All-Pro RB Jonathan Taylor
- Nebraska tight end Arik Gilbert arrested on burglary charge
- On Maui, a desperate plea to tourists: please return
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Watch meteor momentarily turn night into day as fireball streaks across Colorado night sky
- Acuña’s encounter and Guaranteed Rate Field shooting raise questions about safety of players, fans
- Simone Biles' mind is as important as her body in comeback
Recommendation
Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
Grammy-winning poet J. Ivy praises the teacher who recognized his potential: My whole life changed
What does Florida’s red flag law say, and could it have thwarted the Jacksonville shooter?
Cops find over 30 dead dogs in New Jersey home; pair charged with animal cruelty, child endangerment
New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
Maui wildfire leaves behind toxic air that locals fear will affect their health for years to come
Wyoming sorority sisters' lawsuit to block transgender member dismissed by judge: The court will not define a 'woman' today
Four students hospitalized in E. coli outbreak at the University of Arkansas